Feeding Plan
by Slycer
Summary: A CCG ghoul investigator who has a different opinion on ghouls compared to others. A ghoul who wishes to coexist peacefully with humans and refuses to kill unless forced. When an idea of a possibility to feed ghouls without them needing to hunt down humans arises, both will need more than just words to push through. Loyalty will be tested, bonds will be made and broken. My 2nd fic
1. Chapter 1:Two sides of a coin

**Hello readers. I don't really have much to say, so please read and enjoy!**

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 **Chapter 1:**

Two sides of a coin

(Secluded alleyway):

Rain was steadily pouring down, lightly hitting against every surface. The early evening was quiet and empty, the patter of the raindrops being the only sound breaking the silence. However, two figures were standing alone in the alleyway.

"I told you, give me everything you have if you want to keep that pretty little face of yours the way it is!" demanded the thuggish man. His breath smelt of alcohol, his teeth were stained and deformed, his hair was a shaggy, soaked mess and he had a knife in his right hand, which he was holding up to the young woman whom he had pinned against the wall.

The woman continued to cry, the rain mixing with her tears. She had given up calling out for help two shouts ago, accepting the fact that there was no one else around to assist her.

"P-please," she choked out. "Please, just let me go."

The man pressed the blade of the knife against her cheek, but not enough to draw blood.

"If you want to go, then give me what I want," he snarled.

Up above, on the edge of the roof of the building just behind them stood another figure. He had messy red hair and was garbed in a dark brown leather jacket that had a scale-like design imprinted on its surface and black tracksuit trousers. However, the most striking feature was the pitch black mask covering his face. It was vaguely in the shape of a draconic face, with an engraved scale patterning and the eye holes revealing his eyes which had black sclera and red pupils. He looked down, observing the pair beneath him for a few seconds before dropping down off the roof's edge.

He landed on the floor below with a loud splash, water briefly surging up from the impact. Despite the large distance, he didn't seem fazed in the slightest. Turning around at the noise, the thug caught sight of the unexpected drop-in. His eyes widened the moment he saw their inhuman eyes that were glaring at him with the look that a predator gives its prey.

"A ghoul!?" he almost shrieked as the figure rose to his feet. The thug held up his knife. "S-stay away you monster! I'm not afraid to use this thing you know!"

"You're pretty stupid aren't you?" commented the ghoul, his voice soft and even with a slightly deep tone. "Picking a fight with a ghoul."

His drunken state impairing his ability to think logically, the thug gave an enraged shout before charging forward whilst readying his knife for a swing.

The ghoul simply stood nonchalantly as the lumbering man approached. Then, he thrust his arm out as the thug swung his knife, meeting the blade with his bare flesh and promptly causing the metal to snap off and clutter to the floor uselessly.

"You really are an idiot," said the ghoul whilst the thug looked at him in terror. "Don't you know that ordinary knives can't even pierce a ghoul's skin?" the ghoul then intensified the glare he was giving the trembling man and grabbed his right arm. "Although I suppose scum like you doesn't really care for anything besides yourself." He used his free hand to slide a concealed switch located on the left side of the mask's jaw.

Without warning, the ghoul opened his mouth wide, the mask's fanged jaw opening along with his and savagely bit into the thug's upper right arm. The thug screamed in agony while the ghoul tore away some of the flesh using his jaws and threw the man to the ground. As the whimpering man lay clutching his mutilated arm on the wet floor, the ghoul slid the flick on his mask back into its original position, locking the jaw in place once more.

"As I thought, you taste disgusting," he remarked, slowly walking towards the thug. "It's probably all the booze and drugs that you took corrupting your body."

"S-s-stop! S-stay away from me!" the thug shouted fearfully.

The red-haired ghoul crouched down to eye-level with the man. "You should learn to shut up." He swiftly punched the man across the jaw, knocking him unconscious, but not killing him. Rising back up, he turned around to look at the young lady who the man had attempted to extort. She was rooted to the spot with fear, staring at him in absolute terror, as thought she was looking at death itself.

The ghoul carefully approached the woman, who tried to say something, only for strangled sounds to come out of her mouth. The black colouring of his sclera receded, leaving normal white and his red pupils reverted to an amber.

"Are you alright?" he asked. The lady made a sound of confusion. "I asked if you're okay," he repeated. "Did that guy over there hurt you?"

"A-aren't you going to eat me?" she inquired in a frightened tone.

He let out a sigh. It seemed everyone had only the stereotypical image of ghouls, that they were mindless monsters that just killed, ate and repeated the process. "No, I'm not going to hurt you," he assured. "Besides, don't you think that if I wanted to, I already would have?"

"Y-yeah, I guess so," she admitted, a little calmed down.

"So, I'll ask you again, are you hurt?" he asked her.

"No, I'm fine," she answered. "You came just before he used his knife." She hesitated for a few moments. "Thank you… for saving me."

"No problem," the ghoul told her. "You should try to avoid places like alleyways where less people are around. You might not be so lucky next time."

The young woman nodded hesitantly before she turned around to begin making her way out.

"Although you might want to call the police to make sure that this piece of trash here doesn't commit another offense," the ghoul called out, motioning to the unconscious thug on the floor. Stopping in her tracks, she gave a nod of understanding as she took out her phone and began making the call. In the meantime, the red-haired ghoul scaled up the side of one of the buildings, disappearing from her view over the rooftop's edge.

After reporting the incident to the authorities, whilst leaving out that the stranger who saved her was a ghoul, the young lady walked out of the alley and continued moving away. What she was unaware of though, was that the ghoul with the draconic mask kept a silent vigil over her from the rooftops, ensuring that nothing else happened to her until she went into her house.

(Another part of the 20th ward):

Meanwhile, a young man with straight chocolate brown hair and determined hazel eyes jumped back as he avoided a swipe at his stomach. He stared back fearlessly into the menacing inhuman eyes of the blond-haired ghoul that tried attacking him. He watched the ghoul leaped to the side as a man wearing a long silver/ grey coat like his own charged in and attempted to smash it with a large club-like quinque.

The ghoul they were against wasn't wearing a mask, so it was doomed even if it somehow escaped, since they could just track it by his face. He had his kagune out, a bikaku type. It was a dark blue colour and looked like a tail, which was how the ghoul was using it, with a small, scythe-shaped protrusion at the end. Even with his predatory organ out, he was surprisingly weak for a ghoul, possibly not even being used to fighting, although how that could be, the young man had no idea. Behind the mask less ghoul stood a teenage-looking female ghoul who also had blonde hair, possibly his daughter. The brown-haired youth gripped his slightly broad, single-edged sword-shaped quinque in preparation. The rain continued to drizzle down, making slight sounds all the while.

"You okay Kurokumo?" asked the one with the club.

"Yeah, he didn't manage to get me," answered the brown-haired young man.

"Make sure to still stay sharp though Kaze," said another ghoul investigator, calling him by his first name.

"Got it."

The two besides Kaze bolted at the ghoul. The one with the club swung his weapon horizontally, causing the ghoul to jump up in order to evade it. His partner thrust his spear-shaped quinque forward to try and impale the ghoul, who twisted around in the air to dodge while using his kagune to smack it away. While the three remained in combat, Kaze kept a watch on the girl ghoul, making sure that she didn't try anything. Despite not being a human, he couldn't help but notice the very humane look of worry and fear on her face, especially when her kakugan wasn't active, showing normal green.

Hearing a strangled sound of surprise coupled with a retching cough, Kaze turned his head to see the ghoul with the spear quinque impaled into his chest, directly where the heart would be. He hacked up blood once more and fell to the ground as the CCG agent removed the spear from his body.

There was an ear-splitting scream from the ghoul girl. Holding one of his ears due to the slight pain caused by the sudden noise with his free hand, Kaze turned his head to see her looking at the almost dead ghoul with a terrified expression.

"R-run," the fatally injured ghoul told her, blood pooling out from his chest. Heeding his words, the teenage ghoul bolted away.

"Kurokumo, after her!" shouted the investigator with the club quinque.

"On it!" he shouted back, already sprinting after her in pursuit.

While she was inhumanly fast, he was able to stay relatively close to her as they both continued running. He didn't receive all those sprint race and long race medals in sports tournaments for nothing. Eventually, after a few minutes, the ghoul made a mistake by turning onto a street which he knew had a dead-end.

A few seconds later, he slowed to a stop a small distance away from the cornered girl. She turned around and looked to him when didn't advance any further, keeping a safe distance so that he wouldn't be surprise attacked. Kaze's eyes widened slightly when she faced him. She had tears streaming out from both of her green eyes and her face had a look of extreme pain and hurt. Her kakugan still wasn't active, making her look so very… human.

"Why?" she asked in a sobbing voice. "Why did you kill my father? Why do you always hunt us?"

He held his sword quinque with both hands, staying alert for anything. "Because you hunt humans and cause suffering to the families of those who you kill," he replied with an even tone, but the look on her face made him feel an unexplainable sense of guilt in his heart.

"But me and my father never killed anyone!" she protested. "We used to only feed off people who'd died from accidents near a certain mountain route, and even then, it was never more than one limb!"

Kaze didn't really have anything to say to that. In fact, the slight shock he got from her words and the pleading tone she spoke in made him subconsciously loosen his grip slightly on his quinque. 'Damn it,' he thought in frustration. 'I've been taught and I know that ghouls are experts at imitating and deceiving humans, but I just can't shake the gut feeling that she's saying the truth. She doesn't even act like other ghouls, otherwise she'd have lunged at me ages ago. I'm hesitating too. Everything about the way she's acting, it all seems so truthful, so genuine, so… human. Damn it, did we do something wrong? Are we just killing innocents here? Why is this world so messed up?'

"We never chose to be like this," the girl carried on, still crying. "We don't like having to eat others just to survive, that we can't eat normal food like everyone else. Even ghouls have feelings! We have people we love, we have things that make us happy, and even we feel sad when someone close to us dies or gets killed. My father was all I had left, my mother was killed two years ago."

Before any response could be given, the pair heard splashing as someone ran towards them. Looking back, Kaze saw that it was one of the other CCG agents from before, the one with the spear quinque.

"Kaze!" he called out as he approached. He took a stance next to him, holding his weapon firmly and keeping his sight trained on the teenage ghoul. "What's going on?"

"She hasn't made a single move," Kaze informed. "No attacks, insults, anything."

"When did you corner her?"

"A few minutes ago."

"Why didn't you end it? You're more than skilled enough, able to hold your own against an A class ghoul with no backup."

"I was keeping a safe distance for any surprise attacks and was waiting for her to make the first move, but she just kept crying."

"Don't let her tears fool you Kaze," warned the agent. "She would have ended up gutting you the moment you got close."

Kaze let a small, practically unnoticeable sigh escape his mouth. He didn't know how the man would react to this, although he had a feeling that it wouldn't be too positive.

"Somehow," he began. "Somehow I don't get that feeling from her. I only feel that she's genuinely sad and afraid."

"What are you talking about?" said his partner in an incredulous tone, all the while not taking his eyes off of their target. "With all the ghouls you've had to go against, you should be able to see through that façade easily."

"That's the thing," Kaze argued. "I just don't get that feeling of deception or hostility from her. It's as though she's just an ordinary girl who's grieving over the loss of her father, not a ghoul. Like I could stand right next to her and she wouldn't do anything except for maybe keep crying." His statement caused the ghoul girl in front of them to look at him with wide eyes.

The other man tightened his grip on the handle of his quinque. "Kaze, I know that you've had this whole 'there must be some good ghouls' idea for a while since that 'dragon' ghoul refused to fight you and simply ran away, twice, but this is seriously not the time or place." The tension was starting to build up in the air, a thick, heavy feeling that hung over all three of them.

"How? She could have already taken advantage of our arguing and jumped the two of us or made a run for it, but she's still standing right there!" Kaze argued.

"She's a ghoul damn it! One whose dad we just killed! Do you really think that she _doesn't_ want to rip our guts out?!" the other CCG agent shouted.

"Is that why she's still just in the same place and crying instead of attacking us?!"

"Remember which side of the line you stand on, field agent Kurokumo," warned the other man. "Talented as you are, this kind of attitude will end up getting your CCG license revoked, so I suggest you drop this matter and get back to finishing this confrontation."

"This is all wrong! Why can't you see that?!"

"Stop it!" shouted the girl, shocking the other two with her sudden outburst. She dropped to her knees, arms at her sides. "Please, stop arguing. Why do people have to always fight each other? Why can't we all just get along?"

Kaze turned to his partner. "Look, I'm sorry for the argument that we just had," he apologised. "I'd be more than happy to forget that it ever happened and I'd appreciate it if you don't mention it in our report to the higher-ups, but please… let me handle this."

The other ghoul investigator gave a sigh, lowering his weapon. He then collapsed it and stored it back into the silver briefcase at his feet. "Actually, I'm sorry about it too. I also let my emotions get the better of me and let things get out of hand, so I'm at fault too. Just because I lost one of my close friends a long time ago to a ghoul, it doesn't mean I'm supposed to try and push that onto you as well, even though you know about it. I forgot that I'm not even your superior, I'm just an operative who you allowed to accompany you on this investigation as optional support. I won't mention anything to the uppers. Go, deal with this your way. I'll respect your decision and trust your instincts, after all Kureo Mado-san always says to do that."

"Thanks," said Kaze appreciatively.

Slowly, he began walking over to the crying girl in front of them. The rain had soaked his hair and it was still falling. She looked up at him when he was right in front of her, not knowing what to expect. He dropped his quinque from his grasp, allowing it to clatter against the wet ground. He knelt down level to her before putting his arms around her in a light embrace. She put her own arms around him and began weeping into his shoulder. He knew that the other CCG agent was watching like a hawk in case it was really a trap, but he was certain that the ghoul he was holding wouldn't harm him. It was odd, they were technically enemies, polar opposites if you wanted, yet he felt no danger from what he was doing.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your father," he told her softly. "I know that won't bring him back, but I still wanted to say it anyway. I guess that humans don't know as much as we like to think and do some pretty stupid stuff at times. Mind telling me your name? Mine's Kaze. Kaze Kurokumo."

"Yuki," she whispered in response. "Yuki Soraka. I'm fifteen. I guess I should thank you at least for believing me, Kaze."

"Listen to me Yuki," Kaze said gently. "If you willingly come back with me to CCG, then I can give you protection. It won't be much, since I'm no one significant, but other investigators won't hunt you and I can push some things and pull a few strings to make sure that they don't just simply lock you away into a cell either. I can try to put you under my custody on a sort of trial basis. It's not much of a life, but I don't want to have to hurt you more than you already have been and there are others who wouldn't give a second thought about killing you on the spot."

He waited patiently for a few moments as she stopped crying, giving her time to think his offer over. It was a big thing that he was asking of her; she'd be practically losing her freedom, but it was either that or be executed. He couldn't prevent the bitter taste that was left in his mouth.

"I'll do it," Yuki said quietly. "I don't want to die, and I don't want to live in constant fear of being hunted down. Please, take care of me." She gripped onto his coat tighter, as though he was a lifeline, which in a weird, slightly twisted sense, he was.

"I'll do whatever I can Yuki," he promised.

Kaze stood up, lifting the blonde with him. He broke off the hug, making her let go of him as well.

"Takahiro," he called to the other investigator. "Please call Rin and tell her to get over here, we're gonna need a ride. This 'little job' has been pretty tiring."

"Sure," said Takahiro, taking out his phone from a pocket.

Kaze took out his own phone and turned it on, going through his contacts for a particular person.

"Who are you calling?" inquired Yuki.

"Just an old friend," replied Kaze, pressing call.

(Elsewhere in the 20th ward: Apartment building):

A ghoul with messy red hair and amber eyes carefully approached the door to an apartment. He gently removed his black draconic mask and held it in one hand before using his other to fish a key out of a pocket in his trousers. Unlocking the door, he stepped inside into the darkness, closing the door behind him. He turned on the light switch and removed his shoes.

"At least nothing else happened to that lady on her way home," he murmured to himself, hanging his jacket on the wall then walking over to the bedroom door whilst stretching his arms out. "And the taste of that disgusting thug is _still_ in my mouth," he complained. Upon reaching and entering his bedroom, his phone suddenly started vibrating in his pocket. He took it out and checked the caller ID.

"Huh, Kaze? Wonder what happened with him," he commented before answering in a somewhat teasing tone. "So, how's our nineteen year old prodigy investigator doing?"

"Shut up Yamato, you're nineteen yourself," came Kaze's voice. "I'm not gonna start calling you Mr Tetsuken just yet. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that something pretty crazy happened."

"Really? What?" Yamato asked. "And by the way, Mr Tetsuken doesn't sound too bad."

"Very funny," responded Kaze sarcastically. "Anyway, I can't really tell you the full story right now since we're short on time, but I feel like I've just avoided making a terrible mistake."

"That's good for you man," congratulated Yamato. "How about you tell me about it tomorrow afternoon? I'm sure we'll both be free and it's been a while since we actually spoke face-to-face."

"Sounds good," agreed Kaze. "Alright, have a good night."

"You too pal," said Yamato before both him and Kaze ended the call.

He changed his clothes and got into the bed. Kaze was his best friend, one he'd known for over ten years now. Even then, he had never told him the truth about himself, that he was in fact a ghoul. It was ironic really, with Kaze being one of the best investigators that CCG had ever seen, ascending through the ranks in the blink of an eye. Twice he had encountered him while in his ghoul persona. Both times, he refused to fight, opting to evade all of his best friend's strikes until eventually getting an opportunity to escape.

Putting such thoughts to rest, Yamato closed his amber eyes, waiting for sleep to take him.

(CCG headquarters):

Kaze strode through the hallways, leading Yuki by the wrist. Although he didn't pay any attention to them, his hazel oculars noticed other workers giving tense looks. He'd explained the situation to Rin, their pickup, when she arrived. She was more open-minded and accepting to taking a ghoul along than Takahiro had been when Kaze first told him that Yuki wasn't a threat. During the journey, he'd informed his superior about what had occurred. The man had told him to continue with bringing her in whilst he gathered up the CCG higher-ups for when he arrived, even though he himself was against the idea of bringing in a ghoul.

Yuki took a hold of Kaze's arm using her other arm, nervous from all the stares being directed at her. He gave her wrist a gentle squeeze to reassure her as they continued towards the hall that he had been ordered to report to. After a couple of minutes, the two stood at the door of their destination.

"Alright Yuki, this is it," he said to her. "Remember, that most of the people in there won't really like what I'm trying to do. Many of them may say various things to try and provoke a response out of you, but you mustn't let that happen, okay?"

"Okay," she confirmed. "I won't do anything. But, can I still hold onto you?"

Kaze gave her a small yet true smile. "If it helps to keep you calm, then sure." With that, he opened the door and the pair walked inside.

"Ghoul investigator Kurokumo," said a voice that carried authority. "We have heard that you wish to… _keep_ a ghoul from your most recent investigation." The man who spoke wore large round glasses and the lower half of his face was obscured by the high upturned collar of the coat he wore.

Unfazed by the man's disapproving tone, Kaze looked at him calmly, his hazel eyes showing no fear. "Sir, I wish to take her into protective custody under my name rather than simply lock her into a cell," he declared. "She is not a threat and doesn't wish to harm humans."

"What she wishes contradicts her very existence. As for not being a threat, how do you know that this isn't some scheme to simply get into our main base of operations and cause havoc?"

"Sir, with all due respect, if she intended to cause harm, then she had ample opportunity to kill or maim me during our encounter, however she didn't so much as activate her kakugan. As for harming humans, she's never killed anyone. She's been feeding by taking a limb or less from corpses of accident victims at a mountain route."

"How do you know that she's telling you the truth?" asked another man. His face had an almost sneer-like appearance and he had a somewhat pointed nose, making him look a bit like Severus Snape from the Harry Potter series. "These is a ghoul you're talking about Kurokumo; they are masters of deception."

"Sir, as the one who is my direct Director of Operations, you know of my record. You yourself have praised my acumen when it comes to judging a person's character, particularly with the recruits that I suggested three months ago," Kaze replied.

"Hmm, that aside boy, how can you prove that she's not dangerous, hmmm?" inquired another man. This one had a 'groomed/ handsome' face along with a hairstyle that made him look like Elvis Presley.

"I don't mean to appear rude by pointing out something obvious," began Kaze. "But just look at her. She's terrified just being here, so much so that she's trying to use me, an investigator, as support."

"Alright, we're not going to get anywhere just arguing around the same point like this," stated the one with the Snape-face. "I'll cut right to the chase, since you seem determined to go through with this. How do you intend to keep a watch on her and make sure she stays in line?"

"I know that this may not be to your liking," Kaze acknowledged. "However, we could keep her in the empty room adjacent to my office, possibly connect the two. Of course, you could fit a camera and other security devices in the room, and if she wishes to go out for any reason, then we could give her a tracker wrist-clamp."

"While that is a feasible suggestion, how do you propose that we feed her?"

"The same way you feed all the other ghouls that are locked up," answered Kaze firmly.

The man seemed to consider the idea for some time. He set his gaze on Yuki, who tried hiding behind Kaze. "Ghoul," he addressed her. "Tell me, what is _your_ opinion on all this?" That question caught the attention of all the others present in the room.

Yuki met the man's gaze, but not defiantly.

"I'll do it," she said. "I know that I won't really have much freedom, but I want to live. So please, let me stay under Kaze's care. I won't do anything to anyone, I promise."

"Why specifically investigator Kurokumo?" the man inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"I-I owe him my life," Yuki answered. "And, he's the one who offered me this chance to live instead of being hunted down and killed."

"While this is fine, how do we know that no other ghouls will come trying to take you back?"

"That's because she has nobody else sir," Kaze replied for her. "Both of her parents have… passed on and she has no other family or allies."

"There is one thing I have left to ask before making my decision. Ghoul… if you really are as harmless as Kurokumo claims, then release your kagune. Right here, right now, and without harming a single person in this room."

"Go on," Kaze whispered to Yuki. "Do it, it's okay."

Letting go of Kaze, she took a step forward before activating her kakugan, turning her green irises to red and her sclera to black. Then, her kagune burst out from where her tailbone was located. It was a light cream colour and looked like a tail with a scythe-shaped protrusion at the end, just like her late father's except for its colouration. She swished it from side to side a few times as the higher-ups observed her.

"You can put it back," said the director of operations. She did so without hesitation.

After being subjected to a scrutinising stare from his superior, Kaze was given a final verdict.

"Very well," he said. "As chief director of operations for this branch of CCG, I will allow this ghoul to be taken into your protective custody on a trial basis, investigator Kurokumo. However, know this: if any issue does arise, or this proves to be a mistake, then it will be on your head. Do you understand this?"

"I understand the consequences and take them fully sir," Kaze stated.

"You are dismissed. Just for tonight, this ghoul may accompany you for the night at your residence, but must come back with you tomorrow. Consider this the first 'test' of the trial."

Without any further ado, Kaze and Yuki turned around and made their way out of the room. Once they were out, Kaze released a sigh of relief.

"Man, that was tense," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Really? You looked so calm," said Yuki.

"I had to put up a strong front and show how determined I was, otherwise they'd have just pushed my suggestion aside," he explained. "Come on, let's get out of here. I'm pretty sure that you don't appreciate all the stares." Getting a nod of agreement from his ghoul charge, he started leading her out of the building and towards his apartment.

'I'm sure that we've got the wrong idea about ghouls,' Kaze thought. 'There has to be more to them than just the heartless killers that people are led to believe they are. I'm confident that Yuki here is proof of that. Whatever, I'll just discuss all this with Yamato when we meet up tomorrow. I'm sure he'll have some good input, he always has.'

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 **And there ends the first chapter. Please comment/ review. I'm open to suggestions if anyone wants to give any. I don't mind constructive criticism, but please don't flame.**


	2. Chapter 2: Inspiration

**Here is the second chapter. Please read and i hope you enjoy!**

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 **Chapter 2:**

Inspiration

(Yamato's room):

The red-haired nineteen year old rubbed his eyes as he woke up and got into a sitting position. Clearing the last of his grogginess away, he began to recall the events of the previous night. He had a meeting with Kaze in the afternoon, who apparently had something pretty big to talk to him about.

Climbing out of bed, Yamato started walking towards the bathroom to freshen up. He needed to hurry up and get ready for his part-time job or his boss would chew him out, not something which he was too eager on.

(Kaze's apartment):

Kaze finished eating the last of his breakfast and went over to the sink to wash his plate and glass. He ran a hand through his chocolate brown locks and released a small sigh when he was done. He knew that things were going to be fairly unpredictable and maybe even a little stressful from now on due to what he'd done last night. But, he didn't regret it. Yuki was a good person, ghoul or not, he was sure about that.

At that moment, said blonde girl walked into the dining room/ kitchen. He had let Yuki sleep in the guest room for the previous night. She was wearing the same clothes he had encountered her in. A full-sleeve white top and a slightly loose set of beige trousers.

"Good morning Kaze," she greeted him.

"Good morning Yuki," he replied back. "You ready to head off to CCG?"

"Yes," she answered calmly.

Giving her a nod of understanding, Kaze stood up and the two began getting ready to head outside.

(Kick-back centre):

Yamato burst through the doors of the facility, his messy red shock of red hair more tousled up than usual due having run most of the way. While he had left his apartment on time, it seemed that the world wanted to screw with him, since a motor accident took place on his usual route, consequently leaving it barred off and forcing him to take the much longer way instead.

A man with straight black hair and a goatee walked up to him with a slight frown.

"Yamato, you're nearly ten minutes late," his boss scolded. "But, since there's already enough to deal with you look like something legit hindered you, I'll spare you the talk. Hurry up and get to your position."

"Sure thing boss," the undercover ghoul replied, speeding past the older male. "Thanks!"

Within a few minutes, he was manning his post. His job was a mix between supervisor and café worker. He worked at a youth centre, where teens and young adults could come to relax either alone or with friends. There were various sections in the large hall for people with different wants. One part was filled with literature of different kinds for those who wanted to escape into a good book or catch up on a magazine, another held sports equipment for friendly matches, whilst a third had a few games, both video and traditional. Lastly, there was a small café counter with a few tables near the room's entrance. Two seventeen year olds, a boy and a girl also worked at the counter with him, but he was the only one who also had supervision duties.

Generally, it was a fun and easy-going job. A lot of the customers liked to have friendly chats with the staff and sometimes he'd be invited for a game or match if things were more relaxed. Today though, Kick-back was pretty busy, as was to be expected on a weekend. Hearing someone walk up to him, he saw his boss take a stand next to him, wearing a waiter's typical waistcoat and shirt.

"Thought I'd give you guys a hand," he said with a brotherly smile. "Like I said, today's a busy day."

"Right, let's make sure they have a good time," Yamato agreed with a small smile of his own.

(Elsewhere in the 20th ward):

Kaze and Yuki were patiently waiting at the side of a mostly calm and empty street. The brown-haired investigator had received a call from one of his friends from school and fellow CCG workers, Rin, that she'd pick the two of them up by car as she was on her way to work herself.

In the next second, a black car pulled up next to the pair. It was different to the CCG truck that Rin had used to transport them the previous night. This was her personal car. The diver's window rolled down, revealing a young woman with fair skin, long dark purple hair that had black tips and a pair of warm blue eyes.

"Hi Kaze," Rin greeted. "Get in, you too Yuki."

"Thanks for the lift Rin," he told her as he proceeded to get into the passenger seat next to the driver's. The blonde ghoul accompanying them got into one of the back seats.

"You ready for your first day at CCG?" Rin asked Yuki a few moments later.

"I'm a little nervous, maybe a bit scared too," the girl replied, her eyes green relecting some of her inner uncertainty.

"That's understandable," commented Rin. "After all, you're going to be staying in a place full of ghoul investigators when you are a ghoul yourself. Although you're lucky that Kaze's keeping you under his watch. He was always a nice guy, even back in our school days. He stopped quite a few bullies when they tried picking on me because of my unusual hair colouration."

"You're forgetting that Yamato did as well," Kaze interjected. "In fact, the bullying rate at school dropped greatly because of how scared they were of him dishing out the punishment to them."

"Yeah, but you were the first one to step up when it came to defending me," Rin countered. "In any case, he'll take good care of you kid."

"I'm sure he will," Yuki agreed with a smile. "If he's there looking after me then I should be fine and able to cope with everything."

"Yeah, just make sure that you don't try to steal him away from me okay?" the dark purple-haired nineteen year old stated.

The teenage ghoul instantly went red as a fierce blush came across her cheeks. "Wha- but… I don't… I don't see him like that," she spluttered in embarrassment. Rin giggled at her reaction.

"Stop teasing her Rin," Kaze chided with a small sigh, although a ghost of a smile was present on his feature. "And I don't belong to you either."

The rest of the drive passed by in a relatively comfortable silence.

(CCG headquarters):

Kaze calmly walked through the hallways, Yuki following close behind him. Once again, they garnered more than just a few stares and whispers, but he brushed them off without any heed. Eventually, he came to a stop outside his office. There were a few technicians and such around, with more being inside if his guess was correct, working on making the 'holding room' for Yuki.

Entering his office, he found his assumption to be correct. Although, he had to say he was impressed at how quickly they had done everything. It was almost completely finished, the only thing they had left was adding quinque steel reinforcement to his door and the door that connected to what would be Yuki's room.

"Sorry investigator Kurokumo," apologised one of the technicians as he walked up to Kaze. "But you'll have to wait until we're completely done before you can get to your work. Don't worry though, we should be finished in a few more minutes."

"Alright, let me know when you are," Kaze relented, stepping back to exit via the door.

"Will do sir."

A few moments after going back out, they heard footsteps approaching them. Turning his head in the direction the sound was coming from, Kaze's hazel eyes caught sight of two ghoul investigators who were rather renowned. An old man who had one eye wider than the other and walked with his back slightly bent over, accompanied by a young man who had a strong, powerful looking body despite it being covered by his suit. Kureo Mado and his partner Kotaro Amon.

"Kurokumo-kun," Mado greeted with a small smile. He then set his gaze onto Yuki, who instantly began trembling at how he seemed to be looking at her as though she was some kind of lab rat. She took a nervous step so that she was more behind Kaze. "I hear you've adopted this young ghoul here as your personal pet."

"Not exactly Mado-san," Kaze countered in a calm voice. "She's just under my watch on a trial basis."

"You should be careful Kurokumo-kun. You can never trust a ghoul…," the old man stated. "They are experts at mimicking human behaviour after all. You may want to watch your back."

"With all due respect Mado-san, my instincts tell me that she's perfectly safe and won't harm me, and you are the one who advised me to always follow my instincts," the younger CCG agent replied.

At his response, Kureo gave a light chuckle and smirked.

"Indeed I did," he admitted. "Very well, I will leave this matter in your hands Kurokumo-kun. I look forward to observing how things progress with this little experiment." He then started to walk past the duo, his amused smirk still present. Amon glanced at his partner before turning his focus back to Kaze.

"You're a smart kid Kaze Kurokumo, and you've also grown into quite the capable investigator," Amon stated. "I'll trust your decision that you made in this matter, but make sure to be careful. I'm sure you already know that more than just a few people don't agree with what you've done."

"I'll keep it in mind. Thanks for the advice Amon-san."

The broad shouldered investigator nodded at Kaze before moving to catch up with the retreating figure of Kureo Mado.

Yuki let out a deep breath as the tension she had been feeling was lifted away.

"Who were those two?" she inquired.

The brown-haired youth turned on his heels to face her. "That was Kureo Mado and Kotaro Amon. Despite being an old man, he's actually one of the best and strongest investigators that CCG has, able to fight on even ground against even S-class ghouls."

"That's amazing and frightening at the same time," commented the blonde ghoul.

"Heh, I suppose it is," agreed Kaze. He unexpectedly took a hold of Yuki's hand and started leading her down the corridor. "Come on, let's go see Rin whilst these guys are finishing up the rooms. If I'm in the right mood I might even help her with some of her work."

(Kick-back centre):

Yamato released a sigh as he ran a hand through his messy red hair. It had been a pretty full two hours. While things calmed down somewhat after the first hour of his shift, he was kept busy by customers asking for help, ordering something from the café, or just generally calling him over for a challenge.

He made his way over to the staff only door and walked through it to get to his locker. He heard someone approach him from behind.

"Good going Yamato," complimented his boss. "Despite being late you made up for it with how well you did today."

"Thanks," the undercover ghoul replied, taking off his waistcoat. "I appreciate you stepping in to help too."

"Here, it's your pay for today," his boss said, handing him a few notes. He turned around and began walking away to give his employee some privacy to get changed. "Take care kid."

(Outside):

A few minutes later, Yamato was dressed in his casual clothes again when he stepped through the entrance, exiting the youth centre. He walked down the street, heading away from the building, his hands in his trouser pockets.

'I've got some time to kill before I should call Kaze,' he thought to himself. 'Maybe I'll just go for a little rooftop run.' Having set his mind, he began moving towards an empty alleyway. Taking one final scan around, he confirmed that nobody else was around before entering the alley. Taking out his draconic mask from a concealed pocket in his jacket, he fitted it on over his face and secured it. He then scaled up the walls of the two buildings that he was between using parkour, reaching the rooftop in a short time.

Once standing on the roof, Yamato took a moment to breathe deeply, relaxing himself. Up here, amongst the tops of the buildings with no one else around, he felt free and unrestrained. Opening his amber orbs, he took off across the roof, leaping to the next one when he reached the edge.

(Elsewhere in the 20th ward):

A young man looked ahead of himself in terror, his back against the wall. Even though it was broad daylight, there was nobody else around who could help him. He was alone in car park with that monster, and it was going to kill him.

"Finally had enough running huh?" taunted a male voice. A figure began approaching the man. It was a ghoul with a mob of green hair and wearing a black leather jacket. His kakugan was active, displaying the hellish red eyes with black sclera. "Well, that makes feeding all the more easier for me. Honestly, humans are pathetic. You should all just realise that your place is nothing more than being food for us."

The man had nothing to retort back with, fear and survival instinct freezing his tongue. His face was covered in sweat and his white shirt was also soaked. He was sure he was going to die in a gruesome manner, but he was still hoping for something, anything to save him from that fate.

An unexpected thump came from behind the ghoul, making him turn around. What he saw was another person, one garbed in a scale imprinted dark brown leather jacket and wore a black draconic mask on his face.

"It's because of greedy and stupid scum like you that everyone perceives ghouls as mindless monsters," Yamato stated with his kakugan already active. While his tone had been calm, there was an undertone of anger laced through the words.

"What do you want Dragon?" snarled the green-haired ghoul. "This is my catch and I won't share!"

"I want you to leave that man alone," answered Yamato firmly. "There's no need to kill him just so that you can indulge and gorge yourself."

"Why are you siding with trash like them? They're weak! The only thing humans can do is be food for us ghouls. So what if I don't have to eat right now, that's when snacks are eaten."

"Leave him alone and stop unnecessarily killing people, or I'll stop you myself." His tone showed that his warning wasn't an empty one.

The green-haired ghoul smiled sinisterly.

"You think that you're a big shot Dragon? Do you know who I am?" he chuckled, taking out a clown mask from his jacket pocket. "I'm the Killer Clown, and nobody can tell me what to do!"

"You're barely a decent B-rank ghoul," Yamato stated in a bored tone. "Stop acting like I should be scared of you."

The hostile ghoul bared his teeth at the insult. His kagune burst from his back, taking the shape of two ethereal purple wings before he shot at the Dragon at a high speed. Yamato casually avoided him by sidestepping. The Killer Clown turned around and charged at him again. This time, the red-haired ghoul stepped forward, ducked and punched his opponent in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the floor.

"You're pretty slow for an ukaku user," Dragon commented.

"Shut up and get serious!" Killer Clown shouted, rushing him once more. He started striking at the other ghoul furiously, however Yamato just weaved through all of them gracefully. Suddenly, the Dragon grabbed the clown's outstretched arm and pulled him forward. He then shoved the hostile ghoul to the ground prior to rapidly unlocking his mask's jaw and taking a chunk out of Killer Clown's kagune.

The green haired ghoul screamed in agony, then gasped sharply when he felt a solid kick connect with his solar plexus. Yamato spat out the ukaku piece in his mouth and locked the mask's jaw again. For good measure, he stomped on the downed ghoul's stomach, winding him.

"Even if you aren't on the same level as her, you're just as bad as that binge eater Rize," the Dragon spat. "You just kill and eat as you please, even when you don't have any need to." He crouched down. "And it's ones like you that ruin everything for the rest of us."

The green-haired ghoul attempted to surprise attack Yamato, but he smashed his fist into his enemy's face, knocking him back down. Without any further exchanges, he rammed his fist into the clown's chest, breaking through flesh and bone and consequently pulverising his heart. He withdrew his now bloody hand from the corpse and stood up.

Turning his head, Yamato looked to the man that the Killer Clown had planned to eat, who instantly dropped to his knees and hurled up the contents of his stomach. After a few more seconds, the man finished convulsing and got up again, wiping his mouth with one of his sleeves.

"Consider yourself lucky that I managed to find you before he ate you," Yamato told him.

"You… you aren't going to hurt me?" the man asked a little shakily.

"No, I don't like harming humans or having to kill," the red-haired ghoul replied. "And I'm not the only one who's like that either. Try to keep that in mind next time you make an opinion about ghouls."

Leaving the man to recover from the ordeal, the Dragon began walking away. Approaching a nearby building, he scaled up the wall and disappeared from view over the roof's edge. Without stopping his motion, Yamato retrieved his phone from his pocket and began placing a call.

(CCG headquarters):

Kaze finished typing up the last of his report on the events of the previous night. He saved the file then printed it out before closing the window and switching his PC off. Standing up from his seat, he took the printed report in his hand and walked towards the door leading to Yuki's holding room.

"Yuki, I'm coming in," he called as he knocked on the door.

"Alright," he heard the female ghoul consent.

Pushing the door open, he stepped into the other room. It wasn't really much, yet at the same time it wasn't really too lacking either. The walls were a simple whitewashed colour and the floor was covered in a bluish grey carpet. There were three separate sofa chairs facing towards a coffee table in the middle of them, a wooden desk with a chair, a computer desk with a PC and chair, and last but not least a bookshelf with a various assortment of books belonging to different categories and genres. It seemed that the ones who had been working on the place were considerate enough to also add an enclosed bathroom in one of the corners.

His charge was currently sat at the desk, reading a book. She placed a bookmark to keep her page and closed it before looking up at him.

"Is there something you need to tell me?" Yuki inquired.

"Yeah. I'm going to take my leave for the day now," Kaze told her. "I work fewer hours on the weekends. If you need anything then Rin should be here for a couple more hours."

"Okay, and thank you again for doing this for me. It's actually a lot better than I thought it would be." She gave him a warm, genuine smile.

"Your welcome. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Kaze."

"Bye." Having said his farewells, he turned around and left the room, intending to hand in his report and finish up with his work for the day.

(Outside):

The brown-haired investigator stepped out from the CCG building. His hazel eyes took in the surroundings. There were quite a few students going about with their friends, people taking a leisurely walk and families enjoying a day out. As expected of an early afternoon on Saturday.

Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket as it began to ring. Taking the device out, he saw that it was Yamato who was calling him.

"Hey," Kaze greeted upon answering the call. "How are you doing?"

"Not bad," Yamato's voice replied. "You done with your shift for today?"

"Yeah," he replied. "So, you want to have that chat we talked about last night?"

"Sounds good," his best friend agreed. "How about we meet up at that coffee shop? You know, the one we usually hang out at every now and then, Anteiku?"

"Sure, I haven't their coffee in quite a while either," he agreed.

"Cool. I'm already on my way there," Yamato told him. "I'll see you there alright?"

"Alright, bye."

"Bye." The phone went silent as Yamato ended the call from his end. Taking a deep breath, Kaze started walking away, mixing into the mass of people.

(Anteiku):

"Oi, Kaneki, get yourself over here and give these to the people who ordered them," instructed a teenage girl standing at the counter with short navy blue hair that hid one of her blue eyes.

"Coming Touka-chan," responded a young man with black hair and a white medical eyepatch over his left eye. He was wearing a waiter's uniform and was busily attending to the customers. Anteiku's newest recruit and newly turned half ghoul, Ken Kaneki. He took hold of the tray with three cups of black coffee on it and delivered the drinks to the corresponding customers.

The day had been going well for the small café, with quite a fair number of customers having come earlier in the day. Even now, while there was a lower amount of people. Business was going well. After a few more minutes, the mass of people thinned out even more, with only around six people remaining besides the staff.

The bell rang as someone entered. Looking to see who had come in, the staff saw a young man who looked around nineteen years old, had messy red hair and amber eyes. He was dressed in a plain, full-sleeved black shirt and blue tracksuit trousers.

"Hi Irimi-san, Koma-san, Touka-chan. It's been a while since I last saw you guys," greeted the new arrival, making his way over to the counter and taking a seat. He set his arms down on the surface. "Is Yoshimura-san not in?"

"It's good to see you again Yamato-kun" greeted Irimi, the elder female worker giving him a small smile.

"Hello Yamato. The manager is in the back right now," Koma informed him.

"Um, who is this?" inquired Kaneki, feeling a little confused and out of the loop.

"This is Yamato Tetsuken," Touka answered. "He's one of us and an old friend, especially with the manager."

"He's known as the Dragon when he's wearing his mask," Irimi added in a whisper.

"Wait, with a black, scale imprinted mask?" asked Kaneki.

"Yes, that's him," confirmed Koma. "How did you happen to know about that Kaneki-kun?"

"Well, a week or so ago someone at Kamii university was mentioning that they were saved by a ghoul with that description."

Yamato smiled good-naturedly. "Well, since you now know about me, would you care to enlighten me on who you are?"

"Oh, I'm Ken Kaneki, but most people just call me Kaneki," the black-haired half ghoul introduced.

"I see… So you're the one who was involved in the Rize incident huh?" Yamato commented.

"Not to be rude or anything Yamato, but how did you find out it was him?" Touka asked.

"Yoshimura-san told me about it a few days ago," the red-haired ghoul replied. "So, Kaneki. Mind telling me your age?"

"I'm nineteen," Kaneki told him.

"What a coincidence, so am I."

Touka scoffed. "Yeah, but you're way out of this idiot's league," she stated, causing Irimi and Koma to chuckle whilst Kaneki looked aghast.

"Touka-chan!" he protested.

"What? It's only the truth," the blue-haired teen countered nonchalantly. "He's probably the strongest guy here from the five of us." Kaneki looked at her in shock when she told him that.

Yamato gave a slight laugh. "Hey, don't be so harsh on him Touka, he's still pretty new to all this. Besides, I think you're exaggerating a little too much regarding my strength," he said. He set his focus on Kaneki. "Anyway, how have you been adjusting to your new life Kaneki?"

"It was a little hard at first and I kind of freaked out," Kaneki admitted sheepishly. "But Yoshimura-san helped me out a lot and even let me work here. I actually don't mind it now and see things in a different perspective to what I thought before."

"That's good to hear," Yamato told him. "Yoshimura-san has helped me quite a fair bit too in the past."

The staff only door behind the counter opened and in walked an old man with grey hair, closed eyes and a kind smile. His smile became a little wider when he noticed the redhead sitting at the counter.

"Yamato-kun, it's good to see you again," he greeted as he made his way over. "How have you been?"

"Everything's been good on my end Yoshimura-san," Yamato answered. "I was just getting to know your new recruit Kaneki here."

"He's a good lad isn't he? People like him are rare to come by these days," the manager of Anteiku said. "So, will you be having your usual?"

"Not right now. I'm waiting for my friend to get here. Kaze. Kaze Kurokumo, the one with brown hair and hazel eyes," the Dragon told him. "He said he had something he wanted to tell me."

At that moment, the bell rang, signifying that someone had entered the café. Turning his head along with the others, Yamato saw that it was whom he had just mentioned.

"Ask and you shall receive," he chuckled. He turned to the staff. "Just give the two of us what we usually order please."

Yoshimura nodded. "Irimi, you know how they like it," he instructed the waitress. She nodded and set to work.

"Yamato," Kaze greeted upon reaching his friend. "It's been quite some time since I last saw you face to face man."

"Yeah. You want to sit down and talk here or somewhere else?"

"Let's go over to our usual spot at the corner."

"Sure."

Yamato stood up and the two nineteen year olds proceeded to a table in the corner with no one else around it. They took a seat and waited for their drinks to arrive.

"So, what was it that happened last night?" the redhead asked his friend.

"Before I forget, Rin said hi," Kaze told him.

"Nice to know that she still remembers me," remarked Yamato happily. "Is her hair still purple with black tips?"

"Yeah, it's still its natural colour," the brown-haired investigator confirmed. "She's still kept it long too."

"It's good that she's staying true to herself and not changing her appearance because of what others think. Anyway, let's get on to the real topic. What happened last night?"

Kaze took a moment to collect his thoughts before telling his friend about the incident with Yuki.

"We were on a ghoul hunt last night, me and two others," he began. "The other guys were dealing with the ghoul, who wasn't wearing his mask. He had a daughter, fifteen years old, who I was keeping a watch on. When the ghoul got fatally wounded, he told her to run, so she did and I chased her."

"You managed to actually keep up with a ghoul?" Yamato interrupted with a tone of surprise. "Damn Kaze, I knew you were fast but that's really impressive.

"Thanks. Carrying on, I eventually cornered her. When she turned back to look at me, she was crying. She didn't even try to attack me or insult me… I guess that's what really hit me, how human she looked. She was genuinely crying over the loss of her dad. Cutting a long story short, I realised that she wasn't a threat and consoled her somewhat. I knew I couldn't let her go since she'd just get hunted down and killed, so I took a pretty big gamble."

"You took a gamble? That's not usually your style," commented the red-haired ghoul.

"I know, but I was desperate to keep her alive and safe, so there weren't really any other options," explained Kaze. "Let's just say that things worked out and she's now living safely and from what I've seen happily at CCG headquarters in a special room right next to my office."

The pair fell into silence as Kaze gave his best friend time to let what he'd just told him sink in.

"You know what? I really think you did the right thing man," Yamato eventually said with a small but happy smile. "Congrats on your good decision."

"Thanks," Kaze said appreciatively. "Rin seems to like her a fair bit too. They get along quite well."

"Um excuse me," said a voice. Both friends turned their heads to see a black-haired waiter with an eyepatch. "Your coffees are ready."

"Thanks Kaneki," said Yamato as the half ghoul handed them their beverages. Kaze gave him a nod of acknowledgement. Kaneki then turned around and went back to the counter where the rest of the staff were.

"You know," started Kaze. "My outlook on ghouls took a serious shift when I met that Dragon ghoul.

"Oh, how so?" asked Yamato curiously.

"Well, you know from when we were kids that I always wondered whether ghouls were all the same or not, but when I encountered him for the first time… that's when I was sure that there had to be good ghouls." The brown-haired nineteen year old's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Like I told you before, both times I met him, he didn't fight back. All he did was dodge and avoid our strikes when I could tell that he could easily give us some serious trouble if he wanted to. Like he genuinely didn't want to harm us if it wasn't necessary. Both times, he just ran away from me at the first opportunity he got."

"Well, I suppose that it just goes to show that there are 'good' ghouls after all," the red-haired undercover ghoul gave his input. "Ones that don't like having to harm others and avoid it as much as possible. Ghouls that want to coexist peacefully with humans."

"It would be great if we could," Kaze sighed. "The world would definitely be a safer and better place. I think the main problem is that they can't eat normal foods, only human flesh since it contains RC cells."

Yamato scratched his head before taking a drink of his coffee. "Yeah, that is quite an obstacle. I mean, it's unfortunate, but it's not like we can just grow human flesh to feed them or something."

Kaze's eyes widened at what his friend just said. A sudden epiphany occurred in his mind, a flash of pure inspiration. "That's it," he stated quietly, catching Yamato's attention. "That's the answer. Yamato you're a genius."

"Wait, you've lost me," Yamato told him. "What are you talking about?"

"The answer to the problem. We can actually grow flesh to feed ghouls!" Kaze elaborated.

"How?" the redhead inquired in bewilderment.

"Using tumour cells," Kaze replied. "If you remember from when we took Biology at college, cancer cells, or tumours, whichever you want to call them, readily divide and grow even outside the body. They contain RC cells, since they're essentially just rapidly growing body cells. If we can manage to grow a bunch of tumours in the lab, we can create a food source for ghouls."

"Meaning… that they wouldn't have to hunt for people or corpses," Yamato finished. "Holy crap, this is a breakthrough. How the hell has nobody else thought about this?!"

"I know right?!" Kaze affirmed. "It could actually work. We could set up a proper feeding plan and create a coexistent society."

"Hey, that's what you could call this, the 'Feeding Plan'. Also, for any ghouls that still want to hunt and kill, CCG can hunt them down with clear consciences knowing that they're 'bad' ghouls," Yamato added.

"Exactly." Kaze had a small on his face.

Both friends couldn't believe what they had just come up with. It was unimaginable, yet at the same time seemed so obvious. A clear way to maintain peace between both races and to cater for the ghouls dietary needs.

"Hey," called Yamato, getting Kaze's attention. He raised his cup of coffee. "To the Feeding Plan."

Kaze smirked, raising his own cup and clinking it against his best friend's. "To the Feeding Plan."

It would be hard to get this going. He knew that a lot of people would most likely protest against the idea, but if they stayed firm and pushed as much as they could, then maybe they could make it into a reality after all.

 **Omake:**

Yamato and Kaze were sat at their usual spot in the corner of Anteiku. The ghoul and investigator were just talking with one another.

"Here's your coffee," announced Kaneki, giving them their mugs.

"Thanks," they said simultaneously. They both raised the cups to their mouths and took a drink. Yamato immediately spat his out.

"What the hell? This thing's got milk in it!" he declared in an annoyed and confused tone. "I wanted plain black coffee like usual!"

Kaze on the other hand was staring at his own drink curiously. "For some reason, this tastes kind of metallic… like copper or something."

Yamato's eyes widened. 'Oh hell, Kaneki must have accidentally given us each other's drinks. How do I play this off?' he mentally panicked. "Well, they have been having a pretty busy day today," he stated. "Maybe they accidentally made a mistake or gave us someone else's coffees."

"Hmm, that might be it," Kaze agreed with a light frown. "After all, they do have a lot on their shoulders."

'Whew, crisis averted!' the red-haired ghoul mentally cheered.

* * *

 **And the Plan is made! Please comment and review. It really encourages a writer when they see positive feedback.**


	3. Chapter 3: Spread the word

**Sorry for being so late in updating everyone, but I've been really busy with exams, my other fanfic, and even more exams. Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy the chapter.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 3:**

Spread the word

(Yamato's bedroom):

Giving a yawn, the red-haired ghoul slowly sat up in his bed. A small smile formed on his face as he recalled his conversation with Kaze the previous day and the 'Feeding Plan' which they had come up with. An actually viable idea and pathway towards a peaceful co-existence. It would be hard, but 'the Dragon' was willing to tackle whatever obstacles reared their heads in order to realise that dream.

Giving a brief stretch of his arms, Yamato got out of his bed. Since it was a Sunday, he didn't have to go to work. He'd probably just take a leisurely stroll around the 20th ward before heading over to Anteiku and filling them in on the Feeding Plan.

(Kaze's apartment):

The chocolate-haired nineteen year old downed the last of his breakfast and began washing up. Things seemed to have been going for the better lately. First there was Yuki and the ordeal involving her, which he saw as a step towards increased tolerance of ghouls, especially non-hostile ones. Then, there was the flash of inspiration that took place between him and Yamato, the Feeding Plan.

He was going to head over to CCG, talk to Rin and bring her up to date with the new plan, then go check how Yuki was and finish up any lingering paperwork. After that, he'd see some of the other ghoul investigators who he knew were more level-headed and try telling them about the Feeding Plan too.

Setting his washed dishes to dry, he started getting ready to head out for CCG headquarters.

(CCG HQ: Rin's office):

"Whoa," was all one Rin could say in astonished amazement. "Seriously, _how_ did _nobody_ ever think of this? I don't care if Yamato made that same statement, it's true!" Kaze had just finished telling her about his talk with Yamato yesterday and the birth of the Feeding Plan. "It's amazing," the female CCG agent continued. "We could actually head on to a brighter future without all the needless killing and hatred."

"That's the same thing that we think about it too," Kaze said to her. "We already have a pretty good grounding too with Yuki, who as far as I'm concerned is a perfectly non-threatening and 'safe' ghoul."

"Yeah, you're right," agreed Rin. "Anyway, you'd best head on to your own office. I need to finish off the paperwork and I'm sure you've got a fair amount too, especially since Yuki's technically under your care."

"I know," replied Kaze, already moving towards the door. "See you later Rin."

(Anteiku: Staff common room):

"This is amazing," remarked Yoshimura, the manager of the humble coffee shop. "An actual, realistic method to pave the way for a peaceful and coexistent society. You and Kaze-kun have amazing minds Yamato-kun."

"Thanks Yoshimura-san," said Yamato appreciatively. "But I wouldn't go that far in praising us. We're just surprised at how nobody else has ever come up with this idea."

"I shall let the others know about this when they're on their break," the old ghoul stated. "Although, you and your friend should keep this in mind Yamato-kun. Many people will not like what you are trying to do, both human and ghoul. The pathway will be hard."

The red-haired ghoul gave a dull smile. "I already know that Yoshimura-san. However, I believe that this is something worth me fighting over. I wish to see a world where we don't have to hide in fear of being killed, and where humans don't have to fear being hunted. For that, I'm willing to fight tooth and nail."

A sombre sense of calm settled over the two. Yamato stood up to take his leave.

"Thanks for your time Yoshimura-san. I'll be on my way now," he said in farewell. "There's probably something I can do to keep myself occupied for the day."

"Yamato-kun," the manager called out before his young acquaintance left. "Yomo-kun told me to pass on a message to you. He said to tell you that the Twisted Thorn gang has been quite active lately. Apparently, they plan to stage something today."

"Then the CCG will probably launch a raid on them," the redhead ghoul mused. "Those idiots have been getting really out of hand lately too. Thanks for letting me know Yoshimura-san, it seems that I've found what to do for today." He opened the door to exit the room.

"Be careful if you do go," said the elderly manager.

"Don't worry, I will," Yamato assured before closing the door behind him.

He greeted the other members of Anteiku as he passed them on his way out.

'Might as well head back to my apartment and grab my stuff.'

(CCG; Kaze's office):

The brown-haired youth was busily typing at his desk's computer. He was filing a report on Yuki's behaviour since she was placed under him, making a point to include how docile and non-threatening she had been. There were a few other issues that he'd have to deal with once he was done too.

Before coming to his office, he'd paid a visit to his Director of Operations' office and told him about the Feeding Plan. The man had been shocked to say the least, even a little dismissive of the notion initially. But, he had seriously considered it, especially when Kaze mentioned that it would provide a more stable and steady food source for the ghouls that they had locked up rather than using the current means of taking flesh from criminals who had been executed.

Back to the present, Kaze continued typing up his report. Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," Kaze permitted. The door opened and in walked one of his fellow investigators and co-workers. It was the one who had been with him and Takahiro on the night they met Yuki, the one who used the club-shaped quinque.

"Sorry to disturb you Kurokumo, but the higher-ups sent me to get you," he reported.

Kaze released a low sigh. "What is it I'm being called for?"

"There's going to be a raid on a ghoul group," the broader male explained. "They wanted you to come along as well."

"I see. Which group?" Kaze inquired.

"Twisted Thorn, the ones that have been launching the recent night attacks in the 20th ward."

The chocolate-haired investigator stood up from his chair. "Alright, just let me grab my gear."

The other man nodded in understanding prior to leaving the room. Saving what he had done so far, Kaze closed the report on his screen and turned the computer off.

'I might as well let Yuki know that I'm going to be out for the day,' he thought, moving towards the door to her room.

(20th ward: Desolate warehouse):

Yamato landed on the roof of an abandoned building near the warehouse that Twisted Thorn used as their base. He was dressed in his usual ghoul persona attire consisting of the scale-imprinted dark brown leather jacket, black tracksuit trousers and black dragon mask.

He moved to the edge and crouched down, peering down to the street below. He could see an assembled group of CCG agents facing the warehouse's main entrance, majority of them holding their quinques at the ready. They were all decked out in a mainly dark grey combat uniform that also doubled as armour. With his enhanced vision, he could also make out a few vague silhouettes of the Twisted Thorn ghouls in the warehouse windows.

He moved away from the roof's edge to reduce the chances of being seen by anyone. While he would be fighting against Twisted Thorn, CCG would most likely try to kill him as well if they saw him. Essentially, he'd be fighting a battle on two fronts.

Kaze held onto the hilt of his sword-shaped quinque as he regarded the building before him. He'd need to keep his wits about him if he wanted to survive through the attacking ghouls, especially if he entered their nest. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he mentally prepared for the upcoming battle.

"Are you okay, Kurokumo-kun?" asked a somewhat aged voice. Turning his head, he saw Kureo Mado standing near him, Amon at his side as usual. "You seem a little tense young man."

"I'm fine Mado-san," Kaze replied with a smile smile. "Just trying to prepare myself for what's ahead."

"Don't stress over it too much," Amon stated. "No one is expecting you to do anything spectacular. Just make sure to keep focused and stay sharp of your surroundings so that you can survive."

The elder of the pair sent Kaze an amused smile. "Although I don't think that you'll be able to obtain any pets this time round Kurokumo-kun."

Kaze returned the smile. "I already know that these ghouls can't be reasoned with. Also, they've been actively killing innocents, so they don't exactly come under my definition of benign."

"By the way Kurokumo," began Amon.

"Begin the operation!" declared the commander. Immediately, the front line agents took aim with their guns and started firing into the building's windows. After a few seconds, kagune shields became visible in the gaps and a return fire of crystallised shards began.

"All units advance! Watch out for kagune-based projectiles!"

Kaze dashed forward along with the numerous others towards the main entrance of the desolate warehouse. Some ghouls in identical blank white masks came out to face them, causing the squad of investigators to thin out as they split up to deal with them. He kept on going straight ahead and clashed with one of them, striking his quinque against the ghoul's kagune.

Said kagune was a light grey colour and took the form of some kind of armoured covering for the ghoul's left arm. Based on that, it was probably a koukaku type, which meant that it would have high defensive capability.

The two combatants pulled away from the lock and sized each other up. Then, they both charged forth to attack. Kaze ducked under the left hook sent for his head and retaliated with an upwards diagonal swing of his sword. The quickly ghoul rolled to the side in order to evade the strike.

Meanwhile, Yamato had performed a running leap off the roof when the CCG initiated their assault. He rolled across the ground upon touching down to avoid injury, not that the drop would have hurt him much anyway. Looking ahead, he saw a projectile shard racing towards an unsuspecting female agent's head.

Springing into action, he dashed forward and grabbed the shard before it could kill the woman, making her stare at him in shock.

"You might want to watch out for these next time," he told her. He threw the kagune-generated weapon back towards one of the advancing ghouls, hitting him in the forehead and killing him. Not giving the stunned lady a chance to say or do anything, he ran ahead towards the building and a small group of around seven ghouls trying to gang up on a pair of investigators.

Yamato pounced on one of the ghouls before his tail-like bikaku kagune could impale one of the humans. He delivered two rapid punches to the Twisted Thorn member's masked face then gripped the front of his shirt and hauled him onto another member who had tried sneaking up on him from behind. As a result, both hostiles fell to the floor with one of them getting stabbed through the chest courtesy of the other's kagune.

"Oi, Dragon!" one of the other ghouls shouted out, making everyone else stop as they focused their attention on him. "What the hell are you doing siding with these humans?!"

"This has nothing to do with taking sides," Yamato responded. "I'm simply against your little thug group. I hate anyone who harms or kills innocent people, and you scum tend to do it quite a lot."

"Grr, kill this traitor to our kind!" screamed the ghoul as he and five others jumped at Yamato.

"You know, there's a reason why I'm called Dragon," Yamato said nonchalantly.

The red-haired ghoul bent over and crossed his arms across his chest. There was a flash of red as he finally released his kagune whilst standing straight again and throwing his arms out, the predatory organ bursting out from his upper back and brutally swatting all the incoming enemies away.

It was a crimson red colour and took the form of two large wings. However, unlike most ukaku type kagunes, his had a solid form and appearance rather than being ethereal. It looked crystalline and had several large spiky protrusions that looked somewhat like the 'feathers'. (If anyone has watched BLEACH, imagine something like Toshiro Hitsugaya's bankai wings but crimson red colur.)

In the next moment, Yamato was nothing but a blur as he darted around the individual ghouls who had tried to attack him before coming to a halt a few paces in front of the CCG agents. He dismissed his kagune, causing it to recede back into his body. At the same time, all of his foes suddenly gushed blood from their serious wounds and dropped to the floor. Not wasting any time, he ran forward and jumped into the warehouse through one of its open windows, leaving the two awed humans behind.

Still shaky with disbelief at what had just occurred as well as how effortlessly the Dragon had dispatched the hostiles, he raised a hand to his radio collar and pressed the button.

"S-Sir?" he called.

There was a brief crackle of static. "What's going on?" asked the operation commander.

"The Dragon is here," the agent informed. "He's fighting against the other ghouls and just jumped into the warehouse. Also, we just saw this with our own eyes, he's an ukaku type."

"Alright, stay alert and proceed," instructed the commander. "I'll notify all other agents."

Kaze parried a strike from his opponent using the flat side of his quinque. Seeing an opening, he firmly planted his foot into the ghoul's lower abdomen and kicked him away, gaining some breathing room. The ghoul recovered quickly though, springing back onto his feet almost instantly and rushing back to engage him once more.

'Alright, sword form isn't enough to get through this guy without me wasting too much energy,' Kaze thought. 'He keeps deflecting the blade with his kagune. I need something that can either pierce through or can jab quickly. In that case…'

When his enemy lunged at him, the hazel-eyed investigator neatly sidestepped out of his trajectory. He pressed a small button on the hilt of his quinque, causing the sword to degenerate into a blobby mess of biomass which quickly reformed into a sleek-shafted spear with a double bladed head that looked like a miniature version of his sword. Gripping the polearm tightly with both hands, Kaze gave a brief battle-cry before thrusting the spear forward and into the ghoul's side. The weapon penetrated his ribs and skewered his internal organs. The ghoul's body went limp after he spluttered incoherently for a few seconds.

Withdrawing his quinque from the corpse, Kaze returned it to its original sword configuration. A sudden static crackle alerted him to a message from the commander.

"All CCG agents be on alert, the ghoul known as "Dragon" has been sighted in the area. He seems to be fighting against Twisted Thorn and has entered their base, but take no chances. Furthermore, recent intel suggests that he is an ukaku type, so be sure to not get caught off-guard by his speed."

'The Dragon is here? And he's actually fighting?' thought Kaze in surprise. 'From the way he acted in our previous encounters I'd pegged him as the non-violent type. Anyway, I can't let this distract me or I'll end up paying for it.'

Without any further ado, he ventured into the warehouse cautiously. He could hear sounds of conflict coming from ahead on one of the higher levels. Since he couldn't see any hostiles in the immediate vicinity, he proceeded up the stairs that were nearby in order to check it out. What he arrived at was a large room with intense fighting taking place.

There were a few injured CCG agents on the sides, their weapons set on the ground nearby or in one of their hands. Further on were multiple dead bodies with the majority being Twisted Thorn members opposed to only a handful of deceased humans. He could see more ghoul investigators ahead who were in combat against more enemies.

He began to advance forward when he noticed something in the corner of his eye. Turning his head to look, he caught sight of the Dragon squaring off against what was probably a good dozen opponents. His brow creasing into a slight frown, Kaze ran in and began attacking some of the ghouls who were on the edge of the group. He had his own reasons for charging in, mainly that he wanted answers from the ghoul in the black mask.

Using the fact that they were occupied with focusing on the Dragon to his advantage, the chocolate brown-haired young man was able to rapidly strike down a few targets with little problem. Then some of the others faced him, opting to let their allies take on their other foe. Kaze held onto his quinque firmly, readying himself for the multiple opponents.

Yamato grabbed the outstretched arm of a ghoul who had tried to hit him then swung him around and into some of his friends. Twisting back to face his original direction, he launched a vicious uppercut to one's chin, actually knocking his body up into the air. With fluid motion, he ducked under the sweep of a kagune before countering with a bone shattering kick to the offender's leg.

Jumping up into the air, he released his twin crimson wings and rained down a multitude of sharp crystal shards onto his enemies below, killing or fatally wounding most of them. Retracting his kagune, he landed back on the floor. He swiftly grabbed an approaching ghoul by the throat and punched him in the face, shattering his mask and breaking his nose, then flung him across the area they were in. Another adversary tried to land a double-handed hammer strike on his skull, but he twisted out of the way and rammed his fist through the opposing ghoul's chest, tearing through bone and sinew. He pulled his bloodied hand out of the crater and let the limp body fall down. It seemed that he had neutralised all the opponents who had attacked him.

"Hey! Dragon!" shouted a familiar voice. Recognising it with his eyes slightly widened, Yamato regained his composure. Making sure to maintain his kakugan, he shifted around to face Kaze. The brown-haired CCG agent was holding his sword-shaped quinque at the ready, but it wasn't as a threat. "What are you doing here? You didn't strike me as the violent type last time we met, or the time before that."

Taking care to use his deeper false voice that he used when in his ghoul persona, the redhead responded. "I disagreed with what these idiots were doing. While I don't particularly enjoy violence or killing, I hate people who harm innocents or take life for fun. I simply chose to strike when you did because it made things easier."

Kaze took a deep breath. "If you really are like you say you are, then why don't you try co-operating with us or contacting us?"

Yamato gave a mirthless chuckle. "The idea of peace and coexistence is something that I sincerely wish for, however I am a realist at the same time. If I approach the CCG I'll be killed before even being given a chance to speak. Not everyone is like you, or me, where they're willing to let the other talk first."

"The last two times I ran into you, you refused to fight," stated Kaze. "You simply kept dodging everyone's attacks and fled the moment you got the chance. Why was that?"

"It's like I told you," the Dragon answered. "I wish for peace and dislike unnecessary killing. That's why I didn't harm any of you. I want humans to know that ghouls also have feelings and loved ones whom they care about. That we also feel hurt when someone close to us is killed for no reason other than being born as what they are."

'This guy… he's like Yuki,' Kaze thought. 'He doesn't want to kill anybody if he can help it. I'm willing to bet that he generally feeds without killing anyone either.'

Any further exchanges between the two were cut off by a somewhat bulky figure entering their midst. He was wearing a blank white mask like all the other ghouls who were a part of Twisted Thorn.

"Dragon!" the new arrival yelled out. "You would turn on your own kind and side with these weak humans?"

"Like I told another idiot before you," Yamato calmly replied. "This has nothing to do with taking sides. I just don't like what you morons are doing. And stop speaking as though all ghouls are like you, there's plenty of u who live peacefully amongst humans and wish for a true peace with them."

"You're the idiot Dragon. Humans are stupid beings that can't accept anything that isn't like them, so if they can't control it or cage it up they kill it," retorted the ghoul.

"Maybe some of them are like that, but not all of them are," Yamato responded.

Giving a roar of frustration, the muscular ghoul released his kagune which took on the form of a spiky shield over his back with two bands crossing over the front of his torso in a large X. It was a koukaku, which was generally strong against ukaku type kagunes due to its high defensive strength.

"Get ready Dragon, because I'm about to take you down for good! I watched you when you were killing some of my allies earlier. Your ukaku will be close to useless against my kagune! Add the fact that you've been fighting for quite a while now, so you'll be nearing the limit of your low stamina that ukaku types have!"

"So, you're Twisted Thorn's "Armadillo" huh," Yamato commented with a relaxed composure. "If you think that you can beat me simply because you're a koukaku type, then you've got another thing coming. Also, I've got more than enough stamina left to deal with you and any other friends you might be hiding."

Enraged, the Armadillo charged towards the Dragon and began to roll towards him similarly to how an actual armadillo would. The spikes running along his kagune served as a makeshift buzz saw. Yamato jumped out of the way to a side then proceeded to smash his right fist into his opponent's unarmoured side, knocking him away. The Armadillo got back up with a low snarl. He hadn't taken too much damage from the hit, showing his impressive durability.

Kaze was about to step into the duel when Dragon held out a hand, signalling him to halt.

"Please stay out of this one," he said neutrally. "I appreciate that you're willing to help, but this is my battle. That, and I need to teach this idiot to never underestimate others." He back flipped out of the Armadillo's way who had attempted to strike whilst he was 'distracted'. Dropping into a crouch, Yamato grabbed both of his enemy's legs and hauled him over his head then slammed him into the floor as though he were a hammer, generating a spider web of cracks.

Hopping back, Yamato watched passively as the bulkier ghoul rose up again, albeit more slowly than last time. Dashing up to him, he sent a flying kick to Armadillo's head, knocking him down again. The red-haired ghoul retreated to a safe distance once more.

"As entertaining as it is to throw you around like a toy, I'd rather we wrap this up quickly," Yamato announced. "I'll show you why you're koukaku is useless against _me_. After all, dragons have tails."

This time, the Dragon unleashed his full kagune. As usual, the crimson wings burst out, but this time they were joined by another appendage that emerged from the small of his back. It was also crimson shade of red and looked like a twisted double helix, two thick strands coiling around each other. The tips of both 'strands' ended in slightly curved blades that had their tips facing inwards towards each other and an outwards pointing spike at the base of the blade. The newly revealed 'tail' swished about a few times, almost as though it was waiting to strike.

"What? A bikaku? You're a chimera?!" exclaimed the Armadillo.

Yamato rushed over to him and slammed his 'tail' into the opposing koukaku type kagune, slicing through it effortlessly and forcing the Armadillo onto the floor yet again. "Wrong," he stated. "This is a rinkaku. Pure offensive power, which I'm sure you know is the type that koukakus like yours are weak to." The two 'strands' uncoiled into two separate tails which then crashed down onto Yamato's foe. One decapitated him whilst the other bisected him at the waist, spilling a moderate amount of blood. Naturally, any of the red fluid that landed on his kagune was absorbed by the translucent organ.

Kaze watched everything in shocked awe. This ghoul, Dragon, was strong enough to have killed him anytime he wanted to. He could tell that even now in this small skirmish, he hadn't used his full strength. It was somewhat terrifying, on an instinctual level.

"I'd appreciate if you didn't tell anyone about this," Dragon remarked as he dismissed his kagune. "Of course, the choice us entirely yours, but I'd rather not have an increased CCG force after my head."

"Y-yeah," Kaze agreed. "I'll keep quiet about it. You haven't done anything to harm me or my allies, so I won't give you more problems."

"You have my thanks." The ghoul indicated with a nod of his head to the general area behind Kaze. "It looks like more of your friends are coming here. I should probably take my leave now."

Right on cue, a handful of CCG investigators barged into the area a couple of seconds later. Their eyes widened upon seeing the Dragon present, however before any of them could make a move, he ran in the opposite direction towards one of the windows and leaped out. A moment later, they watched in surprise when he released his wings and actually flew up to the roof of a nearby building and disappeared over the roof's edge.

Kaze felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay Kurokumo?" Amon inquired. "You're not injured anywhere are you?"

"No, I'm fine," he told him. "He didn't do anything to me. Only said that he wishes for a peaceful coexistence with humans."

The senior agent's face remained neutral at his statement. "You seem to encounter quite a few unusual ghouls don't you Kurokumo?"

"Perhaps," was all Kaze said in reply. "Although it makes me more certain that not all ghouls are the murderous monsters we think them to be. I've actually got more hope now for my Feeding Plan's success."

* * *

 **And that's a wrap! Please do feel free to review/ comment and let me know what you think. I'll try to update when possible, but I'm in the middle of A-level exams right now, so progress will be slow unfortunately.  
**


	4. Chapter 4: Hurdles and complications

**Sorry for taking so long to update, but I've started university now and also have to keep up with my part-time job and other studies. free time to work on my fics is hard to come by these days.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4:**

Hurdles and complications

(CCG HQ: Kaze's office):

A certain chocolate brown-haired investigator released a sigh. After the events of last night he'd been required to file in an official report, although he left out a few details such as his brief conversation with the Dragon as well as the fact that the ghoul was a chimera in terms of his kagune. He had also filled in Amon regarding his Feeding Plan when the latter heard him mention it at the end of the raid. The senior agent had adopted a complex facial expression when Kaze told him the details, as though he was having mixed feelings regarding the matter.

He wasn't the only one. Quite a few other investigators had also caught wind of his little 'project'. Most were bewildered by the prospect and didn't know what to make of it, but there were some who made it quite clear that they were against such a notion. It was quite sad really, that they weren't willing to even think that maybe they had the wrong idea about ghouls.

Switching his computer on, he prepared for the current day's work. He'd already checked in on Yuki earlier when he entered his office. She actually seemed quite content with her current state, despite the fact that it wasn't anything very remarkable. In any case, she was enjoying one of the novels that were in her room. It was one by that popular author, Tatsuki Sen.

Whilst typing in his password, Kaze pondered over what to do when he finished up his work, seeing as he didn't really have that much to do for today. Perhaps he could try requesting the Director of Operations to allow Yuki to accompany him outside for a while. He was pretty sure that she'd appreciate being able to go outside even if she would be limited.

(Yamato's apartment):

The redhead nineteen year old stepped out of his bathroom sporting a fresh set of clothes, having just finished taking a shower. He thought back to the CCG raid on Twisted Thorn. There was little doubt that the CCG would now have him categorised as an ukaku type ghoul due some of their agents seeing his wings. That meant they'd probably get tough guys who were tanks to fight against him in order to exhaust his supposedly low stamina. Good luck with that.

Then there was the issue of Kaze. Yamato didn't like keeping his best friend in the dark, but he didn't really think that it was the right time for Kaze to know the truth about him, if that time ever came anyway. Still, it would be nice if he could let him in on his secret soon whilst remaining firm friends after the revalation.

Shaking his head to clear off all thoughts regarding the raid and CCG, Yamato began preparing to go outside. Maybe a good walk would help to lift his mood. He should probably stop by Anteiku too, to let Yoshimura know about how things had gone. After that, he'd just see whatever struck his fancy and consider whether to do it or not. He'd need to start spreading word of the Feeding Plan at some point too.

(CCG HQ):

Kaze was walking down the corridor, having just delivered all the required paperwork to where each was needed. Honestly, ghouls paled in comparison to the fiendish concept of official paperwork, signing useless papers on anything and everything which was just going to go into the incinerator anyway.

The teen released an unhappy sigh as he caught sight of someone walking towards him. Kureo Mado was the last person he needed to speak with right now. The man had caught wind of the Feeding Plan and had ranted against the idea almost vehemently. It kind of made it seem as though he was trying to brand Kaze as some sort of traitor or heretic, possibly even a bit of both.

"Kurokumo-kun," greeted the aged investigator a little tensely. "Are you still holding onto that foolish little dream of yours?"

"Yes, I am," Kaze responded evenly. "Except it's not foolish and I'll do whatever I can to make it a reality. If you're not willing to let go of your prejudice and want to remain haunted by whatever phantoms you're keeping locked in, be my guest and suit yourself."

"Heed my warnings _boy_ ," Mado growled. It seemed that the chocolate-haired agent had struck a nerve if the old man suddenly grabbing his shirt was any indication to go by. "Those monsters are just that. They will destroy everyone you hold dear. If that ends up happening to you, you will have only yourself to blame." The old man relinquished his grip in Kaze's shirt then strode past the younger investigator angrily, moving off down the hallway.

Shaking his head, Kaze resumed walking, stopping when he almost collided with Amon.

"Sorry about that Kurokumo," apologised the muscular man. "I didn't think anyone was coming down and stepped out. I must have appeared quite suddenly to your perspective."

"Yeah, you did catch me by surprise," admitted Kaze. "It's okay though, no harm done."

Amon gave him a brief smile before his expression turned serious. "Listen, I've heard about this 'Feeding Plan' of yours. Are you serious about it?"

"Completely," Kaze answered without missing a beat. His eyebrows then furrowed slightly into a light frown. "You're not going to call me stupid for it as well are you?"

"No, no," Amon assured. The man let out a sigh. "To be perfectly honest with you, I have mixed feelings regarding it and don't really know what to think. I can see that you're devoted to it though, and peaceful co-existence does sound nice. Just, be careful about what you do." He clasped one of his hands on the younger agent's shoulder.

"Thanks for your concern I guess," said Kaze. Amon nodded before removing his hand and walking away. The chocolate-haired investigator once again resumed walking on his way.

(Anteiku):

The bell chimed as Yamato opened the door and crossed the coffee shop's threshold.

"Oh, welcome Yamato-san," Kaneki greeted him. "Can I get you anything?"

"Hi Kaneki, good to see you," the redhead responded. "You can call me just by my name you know, no need for honorifics. Anyway, I'll take a coffee. Just tell Touka or Irimi to give me the usual. Also, please let Yoshimura-san know that I want to speak with him."

"Okay. Please take a seat," Kaneki told him, moving away to find either of his two female co-workers.

Yamato approached one of the stools near the bar's counter and sat down on it. A few minutes later, Touka walked up to him, coffee in hand. After exchanging greetings and a brief conversation, she gave him his hot beverage and returned to dealing with the other customers. A few moments after that, the elderly manager of the humble coffee shop sat down on the stool right of him.

"Hello Yamato-kun," he greeted. "I was told that you wished to speak with me."

"Hi Yoshimura-san." Yamato took a sip of his coffee. "I thought I'd let you know about how yesterday's events unfolded."

"Ah, maybe we should go somewhere more private then, yes?" the aged ghoul suggested.

"That would be recommended," the younger of the pair agreed. The two stood up and walked to the staff-only area of the bar then through the door, away from the hustle and bustle of everyone else.

(CCG HQ: Kaze's office):

Kaze finished the last of his required paperwork and filed it away with the others. It would be collected later on by whoever was responsible to do so. On the bright side, he'd been given authorisation to take Yuki out and about for a little while. His superior, Marude had been a little difficult at first, saying that Yuki would be required to wear a 'restraining and tracking collar', but Kaze argued against it, persuading the man to let the ghoul go with a wrist tracker that could do the job just as well if not better as it was more discreet and inconspicuous.

Standing up from his desk, the chocolate-haired investigator headed over towards the door which led into Yuki's room. He rapped the door with his knuckles three times, a knocking in a way that Yuki associated with him, asking for permission to enter. He got a response almost immediately, so she most likely wasn't doing anything.

"Come in Kaze," came Yuki's voice from behind the metal barrier.

"Hey Yuki, how are you?" he greeted after stepping through.

"I'm okay," she replied with a small smile. "Is there something you wanted to tell me?"

Kaze sent her a smile of his own. "How would you like to go outside for a little while?"

(Anteiku):

Kaneki was seeing off the last of the customers as they finished their drinks and left the humble coffee shop. He then joined in with the rest of the staff as they cleaned up the tables. The bell suddenly chimed, signalling that someone was entering. Touka turned to welcome whoever it was, but instead remained silent and instantly began to frown, slightly glaring even.

The person was a man dressed in a rather flamboyant pink suit and had light purple hair.

"Ah, the fine aroma of quality coffee is still present in this wonderful establishment," he sighed after drawing in a deep breath.

"The hell do you want Tsukiyama?" Touka growled, making Kaneki a little nervous with her hostile attitude.

"As sharp as ever I see, Touka-chan," responded the man with a smile. His eyes then landed on Anteiku's newest worker. "And who might you be, _monsieur_?"

"Um, Ken Kaneki," the black-haired youth answered.

"A pleasure to meet you," Tsukiyama stated whilst shaking his hand. He took a long sniff for some reason. "My name is Shu Tsukiyama."

"If you're going to do nothing except harass our newest member, then you can just get the hell out," Touka brazenly spat.

Before anything else could be said by anyone, they heard the staff door open as Yamato walked out. A light frown of confusion formed on his face when his amber eyes saw _the gourmet_.

"Tsukiyama? What are you doing here?" he inquired. He didn't really like the flashy man much to be honest, and the way he seemed to be interested in Kankei was beginning to set off warning bells in his brain.

"Ah, Yamato-kun, how nice to see you," Tsukiyama remarked. "I simply wished to drop-by and give my regards to this wonderful little garden, but it seems that fate had bigger plans for me, meeting Kaneki-kun here and then running into you again, _oui_?"

"Don't flatter yourself," Yamato replied neutrally. "It's not like I planned or even expected to encounter you here."

Smiling airily, Tsukiyama performed a slight bow. "Of course not. In any case, I shall now take my leave. _Au revoir_." He then turned around and exited the coffee shop.

Yamato continued to stare at the door with a blank expression. Eventually, he turned towards Kaneki.

"You okay Kaneki?"

"Um, yes... Is there something I should be worried about?" asked the coal-haired half ghoul.

"Make sure you stay away from that creep Kaneki," Touka growled, eyes still burning into the door. "He's one of the worst parasites you can get in the twentieth ward."

"You don't really mean that do you?" Kaneki said somewhat disbelievingly.

"No Kaneki, she's right," Yamato supported. "Be careful regarding Tsukiyama, he's dangerous in his own way. In fact, the less you have to do with him, the better it is for you." He began striding over to the exit himself. "Take care guys. I'll visit again some other time."

Yamato left the coffee shop's premises, descending down the stone steps that led to the outside. Upon emerging, his eyes immediately detected the flashy pink suit of one Tsukiyama.

"Ah, Yamato-kun. I was just about to walk off thinking that you weren't coming out anytime soon," the purple-haired ghoul stated. "So glad that I didn't."

"Cut the crap Tsukiyama," Yamato retorted. "What do you want?"

"I merely wanted to present my offer to you again," Tsukiyama explained. "Will you join my gourmet club? I will ensure that you are a VIP member, you shall receive only the very best specimens. I'm sure that it will make a nice change of pace from your usual rough outings and hunts, _oui?_ "

"I refuse," the red-haired ghoul flatly declined. "I've already told you, I'll never join your sick group. Now get lost and leave me alone before the CCG ends up receiving a tip-off to where The Gourmet's usual hangout is for his _events_."

"My my, as stubborn and scary as ever," Tsukiyama sighed dramatically. "Very well Yamato-kun. I shall now take my leave, but if you do change your mind then feel free to contact me."

With that, the flamboyant man turned on his heels and walked away, leaving Yamato glaring into his retreating back with an annoyed frown. Huffing in frustration, he turned around and headed off towards his apartment.

(Elsewhere in the 20th ward):

Kaze was sat down on one of the park's wooden benches as he kept his sight on Yuki. She was standing at the railing that circled the pond and was watching the ducks swim about on the water's surface. They hadn't really done much, Kaze had just shown her around some of the town's shopping district, let her visit the library and given her a tour of a few landmarks such as the Kamii University entrance grounds and the park that they were now in. Although, despite the simplicity of it all, the teenage ghoul had appeared genuinely happy about and intrigued in everything he'd shown and told her. It was probably the first time that she'd truly been able to just walk around the 20th ward without the constant fear of being hunted down. He honestly found it saddening that the vast majority of people didn't know the truth about ghouls, or in some cases didn't want to accept it.

That was one of the main obstacles in the Feeding Plan. If people weren't willing to believe that ghouls also had genuine emotions and feelings, then it would be very hard to get things moving along and to obtain the necessary permissions and consents. It wasn't like him, Yamato and Rin could do it by themselves either since this required a driving force greater than just the three of them. Also, in the current climate of things, anyone found 'sheltering' a ghoul would most likely end up being branded as a criminal and a traitor to humanity.

"Kaze? Are you okay?" Yuki asked, snapping him back to reality. She was standing next to him, looking down with worry in her eyes.

The chocolate-haired youth gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Yuki, I'm alright. I was just thinking about something that me and a good friend of mine came up with." He stood up from the bench and faced the teenage ghoul. "How about you? You seem to be enjoying yourself."

"I am," she agreed happily. "It's the first time that I've ever been able to walk around without any fear. It feels really nice." Her expression then became somewhat downcast. "I just hope that you didn't have to go through any trouble to do this for me."

"Hey, cheer up," he told her. "I didn't have to anything drastic. All I did was ask for permission, then told them that I'd take the wrist tracker and put it on you so that they wouldn't have to worry."

"I wish more people were as kind and understanding as you and Rin," said Yuki. "You're my first friends and I'm very grateful for everything that you've done for me."

Kaze guessed that previously it was just her and her father living together on their own, but didn't ask any questions. He didn't want to bring up her hurt and loneliness at the loss of her father. An idea struck him, leading him to fish out his phone from his pocket.

"You know, it's not just me and Rin who think like we do," he told her as she curiously observed him. He opened up his contacts list ad scrolled to Yamato's number. "That good friend of ours that I mentioned earlier… Do you want to meet him?"

(Elsewhere in the 20th ward):

Yamato was calmly moving along, wondering idly regarding the Feeding Plan, how Kaze and Rin were, and last but not least, Tsukiyama. More specifically, the man's interest in Kaneki. The coal-haired half ghoul was too trusting and naïve, which made his very susceptible anything that Tsukiyama was planning for him.

Suddenly, the redhead's phone began ringing in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw Kaze's name and number then accepted the call.

"Hey Kaze, what's up?" he greeted.

"Nothing much," the investigator replied. "Everything okay with you?"

"All good on my end," Yamato assured. "So, did you want to ask me about something?"

"You know me too well buddy," Kaze commented lightheartedly. "Yeah, I did. Are you free right now by any chance?"

"Yeah, why?" the ghoul responded.

"Well, let's just say I pulled a favour with Marude, my division's main superior, to get permission to take Yuki out on a 'supervised walk'," Kaze told him. "By the way, Yuki's the ghoul girl from that _incident_ I told you about a while back. I was wondering if you'd like to come and meet her."

Yamato hummed as he considered the offer. He had nothing better to do, plus he was actually interested in meeting the girl that his best friend had taken under his wing.

"Sure, why not?" he agreed. "Where are you guys, I'll meet up with you."

"We're at the park, the one with the duck pond. We'll be at one of the tables near the pond," the hazel eyed human informed him. "Don't take too long getting here alright? She actually wants to meet you."

"Don't worry, I'll try my best," Yamato assured. He ended the call before returning the device to his pocket and turning around in order to make his way to the park.

(The park):

Kaze and Yuki were sat at opposite ends on one of the unoccupied tables, leaving a seat next to the young investigator reserved for Yamato. It was late afternoon by now, so more people, mostly students, were entering the pocket of nature as their occupations for the day finished.

"It must be nice," Yuki commented, her green eyes watching the students walking about in their groups of friends. "Being able to just live normally. Attending school and going out with friends for some fun."

"I guess you could say that," the brown-haired youth agreed whilst also gazing at the clusters of students. "Especially when you're still a kid and have a lot of free time to play around." He returned his sights to his blonde charge. "If you want, I could try to take you out like this again sometime, can't say when for definite though."

The benign ghoul looked at him in surprise for a second before her mouth formed a small smile. "I'd really like that. Do you think Rin could come along next time too?"

"I'll have to ask her about it," Kaze answered. He then caught sight of a certain individual with messy red hair adorning his head and amber eyes moving towards them.

"Hey there Kaze," Yamato greeted. "Hope I didn't keep the two of you waiting too long." He proceeded to sit down in the seat left for him next to his best friend.

"Don't sweat it, you actually came earlier than I thought you would," Kaze responded. He turned his head in Yuki's direction. "This is my best friend since me and Rin were kids, Yamato Tetsuken. Yamato, this is Yuki Soraka."

Yuki had been staring at Yamato in wide eyed disbelief since he approached them, having immediately picked up on his scent and recognised his as a ghoul. She briefly wondered if Kaze knew what his best friend truly was but quickly rejected that train of thought, the chocolate-haired human would definitely have mentioned it earlier. Her facial expression returned to normal when she noticed the crimson-haired ghoul send her a small, almost conspirational wink, as though telling her to keep it a secret.

"So, you're the girl that Kaze's looking after huh?" the Dragon stated as he rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward slightly. "He's told me a little about the _circumstances_ between the two of you. Rest assured, you're in good hands kid. I can guarantee you that he'll look after you properly as well as he can. Bet Rin's already told you something similar, right?"

"Yes, she did," Yuki agreed a little hesitantly. "He does a lot of things to try and make me feel better."

Kaze scratched the back of his head as a light blush of embarrassment coloured his cheeks. "Heh, well it's the least I could do. In any case, Yamato here is my fellow co-founder for a little pet project of ours that we've dubbed "The Feeding Plan"."

"The Feeding Plan?" Yuki inquired with a confused face. "I don't think you've mentioned that before."

"Seriously? He hasn't?" Yamato commented. "Well, better late than never. Kaze, do the honours and enlighten your young charge here. Oh, and by the way, he may call me a co-founder, but to be perfectly honest he came up with the core idea for this almost all by himself."

"Hey, don't sell yourself short man," Kaze refuted. "You gave the inspiration. In any case Yuki, this idea of our, our 'Feeding Plan'…"

The next few minutes passed by with the male pair explaining the idea behind their goal for a peaceful coexistence between both humans and ghouls. All the while, the blonde teen was looking at them in shock as they talked to her. For her, this was practically a dream come true, even though it technically wasn't even in motion yet. Nevertheless, ripples were already being made. Yuki flushed slightly when Kaze remarked that she was one of the biggest assets he had at his disposal as the full CCG branch knew about her and many saw how docile she was, even if a lot of them weren't ready to accept the truth.

After that, the three of them made conversation on various random topics and whatever struck their interest. After almost an hour, Kaze finally stood up shortly after checking his watch.

"Come on Yuki. We better start heading back to the branch before we get into some kind of trouble," said Kaze. He turned to his friend who had also stood up. "Thanks for coming here to meet up Yamato, I really appreciate it."

"No worries Kaze, it's what friends do," the undercover ghoul reassured. "Besides, I was actually wondering when I'd get to meet Yuki here."

"It was nice to meet you Yamato," said girl told him with one of her genuine smiles.

After some final farewells, they went their separate ways, moving towards different exits. Yamato returned to his earlier intention of going back to his apartment whilst Kaze and Yuki headed back to the CCG building. Things were going to be picking up soon, and every decision they made would either advance or hamper the Feeding Plan's progress.

(Anteiku):

Yoshimura entered the coffee shop's bar, now void of customers. Besides him, only his senior workers Koma and Irimi were on the grounds, cleaning up the last few things.

"Oh, hello manager," Koma greeted happily. "Is there something you need from us?"

Yoshimura smiled at the man. "I was wondering if I could ask a favour from the two of you."

"A favour huh? Well, we're more than ready to hear your request Yoshimura-san," Irimi consented.

"It involves the plan that Yamato-kun and Kaze-kun came up with," the elderly ghoul explained. "If it's not too much trouble, could the two of you please spread news of it to your respective former gangs? We must take part and actively do whatever we can to help if we are to realise our dream of coexistence."

"I don't have any issues with that," Koma responded. "I'll round up my old 'Devil Apes' and break the news to them."

"I'll do the same with my 'Black Dobers'," Irimi seconded.

Yohimura smiled at the pair warmly. "Thank you both. I truly appreciate this."

Walking over to the glass window, the grandfatherly man stared out into the darkened sky. 'Yamato-Kun. You and your friend have finally opened a way for us,' he thought. 'To help create a world where humans and ghouls can live in peace with one another. We will all support you to the end in order to achieve that goal.'

* * *

 **It's shorter than usual and doesn't have as much action, I know and I'm sorry. BUT, things will begin picking up from now on and the action will follow.**


	5. Chapter 5: Jason hunting & Gourmet greed

**I have returned from the dark depths of Fanfic Death! Seriously though, I am sorry I haven't updated this in almost a year. I've been busy with both personal and professional things, plus a bunch of other issues and responsibilities that eat up my time. The time to work on my fanfics is rare to come by these days, and when it does I usually work on my main/first fanfic, Highschool:BLEACHED. Anyway, on with the story!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5:**

Jason hunting and Gourmet's greed

(CCG HQ):

Kaze walked into his office and greeted Yuki as usual before getting to work. A few minutes later, there was a knock at his door.

"Come in," he told them. A young errand boy entered the room.

"Sorry to disturb you sir," said the new arrival. "But director Marude is calling you to his office."

"Alright, I'm coming." Both of them left the office and went their separate ways.

As the young investigator walked down the hallway, he noticed a lot of whispers going around when he passed people. It was probably because more people had now become aware of his and Yamato's Feeding Plan. Some of them could also have been regarding how he was still keeping Yuki under his care, or that he had encountered the Dragon during the previous raid.

Finally reaching the door to his superior's office, he briefly rapped his knuckles on the door. After hearing a slightly muffled consent, he opened the door and entered.

"Investigator Kurokumo," Marude addressed formally in a tone that meant business. "We have received intel that a dangerous ghoul codenamed Jason is in the 20th ward. I'm sure you've already heard of him. In any case, I want you to join up with investigators Mado and Amon in hunting him down. There will be two others joining you also. Is this understood?"

"Yes sir," Kaze replied. "When should I go to them?"

"Today, in about an hour's time," Marude told him. "Also, how is that ghoul who's under your care?"

"She's fine," said the younger male. "She's actually quite docile and mainly reads books. Even yesterday when I took her outside for a while she didn't cause the slightest trouble."

His superior looked at him with an unreadable expression for a few seconds. "What about this plan of yours that you told me about some time ago?"

"I'm still going to push forward with it," Kaze said without hesitation.

"I'll admit that it's smart and would be very convenient," remarked the older man. "But it's also unlikely to happen anytime soon. You should watch yourself Kurokumo. That is all. You may leave now."

With a nod of understanding, Kaze quietly exited and made his way back to his own office.

After finishing up some more reports and paperwork during the hour he had, the young investigator stood up and stretched his arms out. He walked over to Yuki's door and knocked for permission. When she told him to come in he entered the passcode and stepped through the doorway.

"Hello Kaze," the teenage ghoul greeted warmly. "Is something going on?"

He gave her a small, friendly smile. "Yeah. I just came to tell you that I probably won't be here for the rest of the day. I'm being sent to join up with some other investigators and help them in trying to track down some ghoul nicknamed Jason."

Yuki's eyes immediately went wide with shock and fear. "Jason? They're sending you after Yamori?! Please don't go Kaze, he's crazy and very dangerous!"

"Yamori?" the chocolate-haired nineteen year old questioned. "Is that his real name? Anyway, I appreciate your concern Yuki, really, but I should be okay. I'm being paired up with Mado and Amon, they're both very capable and experienced. By the way, how do you know about Jason, or Yamori as you called him?"

"Most ghouls in the 20th ward know about him," Yuki answered calmly. "He's someone who's feared by nearly all the normal ghouls. None of us want to meet him if possible. As I mentioned before, he's said to be really strong as well as crazy."

"Wow. Well, if it helps you feel any better, I'll be very careful if we do encounter him," Kaze reassured. "I'll refrain from engaging him unless it's absolutely unavoidable."

Yuki gave him a slight pout. "Alright," she conceded. "Still, I'd rather you don't do this at all."

"I wish I could just sit this out, but I don't have that liberty," Kaze replied. "Well, I'd best get ready. I'll see you later okay?"

"Okay. Please stay safe."

(Anteiku):

Yamato had just finished up with his job at the Kick-back centre. Normally he didn't visit Anteiku as often as he had been for the past few days, but he felt in the mood for a good cup of coffee made by Irimi. As he neared the stairs that led up to the humble coffee shop, he saw a mother and daughter step out together. His eyebrows lifted in surprise as he recognised the pair, even if he didn't know them as well as the workers at Anteiku did. Ryoko Feuguchi and her daughter Hinami.

"Hello there Ryoko and… Hinami right?" the redhead greeted as he approached them. "I didn't know the two of you were around this place."

"Hello Yamato-kun," Ryoko greeted in return. She had a slightly uncomfortable look in her eyes. "Hinami and I have been staying here for the past few days. There's a… slight _problem_ with staying at home at the moment."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," said Yamato. "In any case, while I'm sure that Yoshimura-san and the others here are taking good care of you and your daughter, feel free to ask me for help if you need anything."

"Thank you for the offer Yamato-kun," Ryoko told him appreciatively. "I would rather not inconvenience you though."

"Don't worry about it," he assured. "Besides the time I spend at my job, I'm nearly always free." He knelt down so that he was level with Hinami. "Even if it's just Hinami here wanting someone to talk to or play with, don't hesitate to let me know." He ruffled the girl's hair affectionately, causing her to smile at him.

Ryoko also gave a soft smile of her own. "Thank you. I'll consider it."

Standing back up, Yamato gave the duo a final nod before walking past them and towards the entrance to Anteiku.

Upon opening the establishment's door, he was welcomed by Touka.

"The usual?" she inquired whilst he made his way over to a seat at one of the tables.

"Yeah. Get Irimi to make it please," he responded, taking a seat. "Hey there Kaneki," he acknowledged as he caught sight of the coal-haired youth a table away. He returned the greeting and went to serve one of the other customers.

Yamato looked out the window as he waited for his coffee, letting his mind wander about idly. Among other things, his thoughts drifted to what Kaze might be doing.

(CCG HQ):

Kaze was equipped with his standard investigator's long coat and quinque case. In the same room as him were Mado, Amon and two other investigators. Since Mado was the one leading the operation, he told them the usual stuff to do their best and keep their wits about them, but also added for them to not get in his way. He looked directly at Kaze when he said that.

With a final check on their gear, the group of ghoul investigators made their way out the room, Mado taking the lead and Amon just behind him. Kaze had the feeling that this was going to be a long operation.

(Elsewhere in the 20th ward):

Yamato was walking through one of the parks at a leisurely pace. He'd spent around an hour and a half at Anteiku, chatting pleasantly with the staff while he drank his coffee. It was an unexpected but welcome surprise when Irimi and Koma told him that Yoshimura had requested them to spread news of 'The Feeding Plan' to their respective former gangs. The more word of it got out, the easier it would be to convince people to follow along with it.

He took a deep breath, letting the cleaner air of the small pocket of nature fill his lungs. Maybe he'd go for a rooftop run after he was done with the park. Depending on how long he took with that, he could probably fit in some time for training.

The amber eyed teen's face developed a light frown as he abruptly caught wind of Tsukiyama's scent. Quickly scanning his surroundings, he saw that the flamboyant man was nowhere to be seen. Most likely he was long gone, his scent just lingering about from when he passed through the area. Still, the Dragon felt a slightly uneasy sense of foreboding. Why was Tsukiyama hanging around the local area anyway? Clearing all thoughts regarding the purple-haired ghoul from his mind, Yamato resumed his walking. He'd deal with Tsukiyama if the man caused a problem.

(Anteiku):

Kaneki cleaned up the few dishes in the sink with a small smile on his face. Things were pretty relaxed in the coffee shop at the moment. Also, he'd had a chance encounter with Tsukiyama that morning before starting his shift at Anteiku. The man seemed pleasant enough, the only things he did was have a civil conversation with Kaneki and later invited him to have another chat at a certain café the man liked. He didn't see how he could be bad enough that Touka and Yamato warned him to stay away from him.

Yamato was pretty amazing in the half ghoul's eyes. According to Touka, he was stronger that even Irimi and Koma, but was quite humble about it all. He seemed like quite a friendly individual too. Yoshimura had told them all about the 'Feeding Plan' that Yamato had come up with along with his friend, and he had been genuinely surprised by it.

Another good point was that he was getting along really well with Hinami despite their awkward first meeting. He enjoyed helping the girl with her reading and she saw him as a big brother figure, something that made him feel very happy on the inside.

All in all, he felt as though he'd more or less settled comfortably into his new life. He had new friends and people who he cared for

(Rooftops):

Yamato revelled in the feeling of the air rushing past his face as he leaped between two rooftops. He was decked out in his usual ghoul attire and was wearing the mask. Slowing to a halt in the middle of the roof he'd just landed on, he decided to take a small break. Hearing the dull buzz of some sort of commotion, he neared the edge to look down below.

On one of the side streets, which had practically nobody else around, stood three people. One lady who was holding a knife up to another young lady and the small boy trying to hide behind her. Focusing his enhanced ghoul hearing whilst crouching down, the Dragon listened in on the words being exchanged between them.

"Leave us alone!" shouted the girl with the little boy behind her. Unfortunately, no one else was around to hear or help them. Also, a dead end was behind them.

"How about you give me a little cash first?" the woman with the knife demanded sarcastically. She took a step closer to the pair of victims. "Or you could give me the kid. I'm sure I'll be able to get some good work out of him, or something decent for him."

At this point, Yamato had heard enough. He swiftly jumped down from the roof and landed a few paces behind the armed lady. He made sure to cause a thud loud enough to catch her attention. She turned around with a look of annoyed anger on her face. It was quickly replaced by an expression of surprise and fear when she realised that the new drop-in was a ghoul. She instinctively took a few steps back in fear.

"No way, a ghoul," she muttered. She moved backwards even more and held her free hand out towards her victims. "H-hey, take them if you're hungry. There's two of them, they'll fill you up more than just me."

"You're despicable," the Dragon declared, shutting her up. He took a step towards her, but she remained motionless, paralysed in terror. "Not only were you trying to mug her and the kid, but you practically shoved them forward as a sacrifice just to try and save your own skin. Besides, you'd probably taste like crap anyway."

"Stay back!" the would-be mugger suddenly screamed, brandishing the knife and stumbling back.

Yamato lunged at her with his arms outstretched and hands positioned like claws. The woman's knife broke when she swung it against him, then she screamed as she was pushed down and pinned to the ground. She was abruptly silenced when the redhead ghoul punched her across the jaw and knocked her out. He gave a scoff as he got off her and stood back up.

"Please… don't hurt us," whimpered the girl, trying to hide the boy behind her. "At least not my brother."

Yamato sighed and stuffed his hands into his pockets in a display of non-aggression. "Don't worry, I don't have any intention of harming either of you. I only jumped in to stop that crazy woman over there. Not all ghouls are bloodthirsty monsters you know." He turned away from the siblings and started moving off towards one of the buildings. "You should call the cops or something, otherwise she might target someone else." He broke into a sprint and leaped at the wall, scaling up towards the roof upon making contact.

The girl and her little brother watched the figure disappear over the edge in awe. Suddenly, the young boy's face grew a large smile as he grabbed his sister's hand.

"That was so cool!" he gushed. "He was like some sort of superhero or something!"

The girl gave a small giggle and smile of her own. "Yeah, he was, wasn't he?"

(Late afternoon: Elsewhere in the 20th ward):

The chocolate-haired nineteen year old investigator sighed as he continued down the street, dressed in casual clothing. They hadn't done much besides follow Mado around during the search, but the old man claimed to have found clues as well as gained a possible lead on Jason's whereabouts. He'd dismissed them for the day, telling them that they would continue tomorrow whilst he organised and planned.

He felt as though Mado had been constantly watching him for even the slightest hint of trouble. Kaze didn't know what crazy thoughts were running through the old investigator's mind; it wasn't as though he was going to try talking Jason into his protection. Still, during one of their breaks Amon had asked about the Feeding Plan and Kaze happily told him the main idea(s) behind it and how it could be a legitimate system, so that was one good thing at least. Plus, Amon seemed genuinely impressed by how much he'd already thought out along with Yamato.

While he was lost in thought, he felt an unexpected bump and quickly realised that he'd accidentally collided with someone.

"I'm really sorry about that," he swiftly apologised, looking at who he'd collided with. It was a shy-looking young girl, walking with who he assumed was her mother. "I wasn't paying attention."

"Oh it's alright," the mother assured. "There's no harm done. We should have actually given you more space."

Kaze's mouth formed a small smile. "Thanks. I wish more people were as understanding as you. In any case, it's getting late. I suppose we should both hurry up and be on our way."

"I hope you have a good afternoon," the mother bade in farewell. "Come on Hinami, we need to head back and eat or everyone else will start to worry."

(Elsewhere in the 20th ward):

Meanwhile, Yamato was back to walking normally on ground level, his mask hidden away. He paused abruptly as he suddenly caught wind of Tsukiyama's scent again. His eyes then widened when he detected Kaneki's scent also present, as though he and Tuskiyama had gone together somewhere.

"This is bad," the redhead muttered in frustration, already following the scent trail with urgent strides. "Damnit Kaneki, I thought I warned you about that guy. Let's hope I get to you in time."

(A nondescript coffee shop):

Kaneki sat at one of the tables with Tsukiyama. They had engaged in pleasant conversation during the journey to the coffee shop, the purple-haired man insisting that Kaneki need not worry about any expenses. They exchanged some more words before the coal-haired teen's coffee arrived and the Gourmet stood up.

"I'll be back in a moment Kaneki-kun," he assured. "Please, enjoy your coffee."

"Okay," Kaneki mumbled, taking a hold of the mug.

He noticed a somewhat strange taste from the beverage as he drank it, but couldn't quite place what it was. After around a minute or so, he had drained half of it. His felt slightly fuzzy, not necessarily in a disorientating way, however it was still noticeable.

Suddenly, the table he was sat at began rising up along with the floor under, taking him along too. He ended up in what looked like an arena, with stands of spectators all wearing masks looking down on him from above. Kaneki frantically looked around in fear, searching for any way out. He was confused and really didn't like the way things were headed.

"Allow me to present tonight's entertainment, and meal!" exclaimed Tsukiyama's voice from high up. The coal-haired half ghoul looked up to see the man standing in what seemed to be a VIP area, wearing a white crescent mask. The guests started whispering and murmuring amongst each other. "He is a ghoul, that is true. I understand your confusion. However, please be so kind as to take a sniff of this!" The flamboyant man took out the napkin with Kaneki's blood on it, throwing it into one of the stands. He smiled as he observed the guests hesitantly follow his instructions, only to gasp in awe and amazement. "How strangely wonderful is it not? Ordinarily, ghouls do not smell appetising in the least to other ghouls, but his scent is so marvellous and intoxicating! Just imagine, if he _smells_ that good, how splendid would he _taste_? Once again my fellow guests, I present our main dish for tonight!"

Kaneki stared at the Gourmet in unbelieving horror. His attention was quickly snatched by the sound of the large gate in the wall opening. A moment or so later, a hulking brute wearing an executioner's hood stomped through, carrying an oversized and serrated butcher's cleaver. Everything else drowned out for the teen, the only thing his mind registering being the massive man charging towards him. Acting on pure survival instinct, Kaneki turned and ran whichever way he could, desperate to stay away.

(With Yamato):

The nineteen-year-old redhead raced through the streets, dressed in his ghoul persona getup sans the mask. He turned sharply at a corner, catching sight of a certain coffee shop. More specifically, the one where Tsukiyama held his 'events'. He slammed the door open and as he dashed through, clotheslining some random maid who'd tried stopping him.

Whipping out his mask and fitting it to his face, he sprinted over to the table that doubled as a lift up to the arena. He leaped up, bringing out his wings whilst he did so. Shooting up like a bullet, he reared his fist back in preparation. Upon reaching the ceiling, Yamato smashed through it without any hesitation and dismissed his kagune wings.

Kaneki had just gotten out of the musclebound brute's crushing grip and pushed him back with an adrenaline boosted kick. His medical eyepatch had fallen off, displaying his single kakugan for all to see. Without any warning, a portion of the floor where he'd entered the hellish arena from exploded upwards, sending dust and masonry up into the air.

A figure shot out of the large dust cloud, flipping acrobatically in mid-air. They landed down in a clear area, allowing everyone to clearly view his black draconic mask. Yamato briefly glanced at Kaneki's roughed up but otherwise unharmed form, then to the large man who looked like some cut rate executioner.

In the next second, the Dragon was suddenly right in front of Kaneki's tormentor. Before anyone could react, he thrust his fist into the sizable opponent's gut, causing a spray of crimson blood from the force of the impact and knocking the man straight into the wall. Throwing his head back, Yamato unleashed a loud roar filled with animalistic fury.

"I'm only going to say this once, so all of you pathetic scumbag better listen properly!" he shouted angrily. He stepped over to Kaneki and firmly yet gently grasped one of the scared half ghoul's shoulders. "This young man here, he is under _my_ protection! Any of you even try to lay a finger on him, then I'll hunt you down and rip you apart!" There was a lot of frightened whispering from the assembled attendants.

Getting over his shock at the discovery of Kaneki's true nature, as well as Yamato's unforeseen entrance, Tsukiyama jumped down. "I'm sorry for misleading everyone!" He gestured to the knocked out and bleeding would-be butcher. "This fine specimen is our true dinner for tonight! With all that tightly packed muscle, it's bound to be a true feast enough for all of us!" He slowly walked over to Yamato and Kaneki, his arms held out to the sides non-threateningly. "I'm terribly sorry about all of this Kaneki-kun. I had intended this as a prank. Unfortunately, it seems to have gotten rather out of hand."

The flamboyant man was prevented by saying anything further due to the Dragon suddenly backhanding him without any prior indication. The strike knocked Tsukiyama's crescent mask off his face and bowled him down.

"Cut the crap Tsukiyama," Yamato seethed. "My warning applies especially to you. You ever try pulling a stunt like this again, and I'll seriously kill you, your family be damned." Maintaining a steady hold of Kaneki's shoulder, he led the poor youth and himself out of the establishment, if it could even be called that.

A while later, when they were safely away and the black-haired half ghoul was feeling alright again, Yamato sighed. His mask was already off and hidden away. He turned his head to look at Anteiku's newest recruit.

"Now do you understand why Touka and I warned you to stay away from Tsukiyama?" the redhead asked. His tone wasn't angry, rather it was more relieved.

"Y-yes," Kaneki responded shakily. "It's just… I never thought that he could do something like that. He… he seemed like a nice enough person."

"Looks can be deceiving Kaneki," Yamato stated. "The world of ghouls is very different to the world you know, the world of humans. Essentially, it's much crueller in nature. Our kind are regarded as dangerous, maybe rightly so. With the general look-out-for-yourself view many have on life, most ghouls are rough and deceptive, some more cruel than others." Kaneki lowered his head in sadness. "Don't get the wrong idea Kaneki, I'm not scolding or reprimanding you. I'm simply trying to warn you. You're a good person with a kind and soft nature. That's why you must remember, not everyone is like you, nor do they share your ideologies." Yamato looked up at the night sky somewhat sombrely. "It's sad, but the world is locked in a vicious cycle of fear and hatred. Both humans and ghouls are hunted by each other and so they fear the other side. Both have suffered loss due to the opposite side, so they resent them." He shifted his gaze back to Kaneki, who was staring at him in total attention. "But, that's part of what makes you so special Kaneki, maybe even more so than a naturally born half ghoul. You can understand both sides, because you have lived and experienced both. Thus, you have the potential to cause great change in either, or even both. But, you need to make sure that you trust the correct people and learn how to stay away from those who wish you harm. After all, a dead person can't make much change, can they?" He chuckled slightly at his friend's stunned expression. Giving a quick once-over to the surroundings, he nodded approvingly. "Well, you should be safe enough going on your own from this point. Take better care of yourself, alright Kaneki? I'd hate to lose a friend." He began walking away, leaving the coal- haired young man to his thoughts.

"Yamato-san!" Kaneki called out, making him stop momentarily. "Thank you! And please take care of yourself as well! Also, the next time you come to Anteiku, I'll pay for your coffee!"

Both youths smiled as they parted ways, each heading to their respective places of residence.

* * *

 **And finish! Sorry that this chapter is kind of short. Hopefully, I should be able to get back to being somewhat more regular on updating this story. I already have a lot of the events and details planned out, it's just typing it all out that takes ages. Can't promise though, since I'm busy helping with proofreading someone's sci-fi book that he wants to officially publish.**

 **Please review/ comment, but kindly don't flame. Seriously, it really hurts a person's self-esteem and can even lead to them giving up writing for good.**


	6. Chapter 6: Crooked plans

**The sci-fi book is officially published! My friend's name is Josef Noble, the book's called Project Parasite. you can find it on Lulu(.com). Anyway, enjoy the new chapter! On to the story though, I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6:**

Crooked plans

(CCG: Kaze's office):

The hazel eyed investigator made a final check that all the relevant paperwork was done for the time being. He'd already spoken with Yuki and told her he'd be off soon. Mado had notified them all he had gained some new info regarding where Jason had been reported as seen fairly recently, and was planning to perform a search and investigation in the area. He wanted them all ready and prepared at the entrance in ten minutes.

Kaze sighed. While nothing had really happened yet, there was a rather noticeable tension between the elderly agent and himself. Ever since hearing about the Feeding Plan, Mado seemed to regard Kaze as some sort of turncoat operative. The man constantly watched him whilst they worked together, as though trying to make sure he couldn't do anything that clashed with his own ideals.

Sorting out the last few things on his desk, the teen stood up to leave. It was going to be a long day.

(Yamato's apartment):

The amber eyed ghoul was sat on his bed with a book in his hands. He had the day off, so he decided to just relax and enjoy a decent novel. The recent stunt pulled by a certain Shu Tsukiyama was still fresh within his mind though. Although confident that the flashy man wouldn't attempt anything similar for the next few days, Yamato had the nagging feeling that he was already planning something for the near future. He'd already warned Kaneki, who now also had first-hand experience of Tsukiyama's true nature, but the purple-haired ghoul was crafty and obsessive if nothing else. He couldn't be too sure that he'd be there assist the young half ghoul at that time either.

The Feeding Plan needed to be worked on as well. They had to start making more people aware of it, in addition to trying to gain and set up the required assets. Above all though, all of them had to make sure that they were prepared to face the inevitable backlash the proposal would cause.

"Man, I should really start noting all of this stuff down," he mumbled, turning a page. "It'll help with planning everything out."

(Elsewhere in the 20th ward):

Kaneki kept to himself as usual whilst he walked along the street. He'd just finished up with his lessons at Kamii University for the day. Hide had spoken with him for quite a while on pretty much random topics. Nonetheless, the coal-haired youth was grateful for it. He valued his friendship with the blond, the normalcy was refreshing and relaxing.

He heard an unexpected commotion coming from an alleyway. His concern and curiosity getting the better of him, Kaneki stepped into it and advanced in the direction he could hear the sounds of a struggle coming from.

The sight that met him was something he definitely wasn't expecting. Lying on the ground face down was a messy haired blond whom he recognised from a previous, less than pleasant incident, Nishki. His glasses had fallen off, one of the lenses cracked and broken. Several other ghouls were standing around him, relentlessly kicking his prone form.

"Get lost brat," one of the thugs barked harshly, breaking Kaneki out of his stupor.

"Why are you doing this?" he couldn't help but ask. Despite Nishki almost killing him and Hide before, the coal-haired half ghoul couldn't bring himself to hate the senior, nor agree with what was currently occurring.

One of the others turned to face him. "What does it matter to you? We're gonna cannibalise this idiot and teach him a lesson."

Without warning, Kaneki charged into their midst and sucker punched the closest one. He dodged an incoming swing from another before retaliating with a straight thrust of his own. The rest of them eyed him warily as he raised his hands into a basic guard.

'They're all a lot slower than Yomo-san,' he thought calmly. 'I can do this!'

(An apartment complex):

Two figures approached the tall building, one leaning against the other for support. Kaneki paused briefly at the base of the stairs, allowing Nishki to recover a little before climbing up.

"Why'd you help me Kaneki?" the blond ghoul inquired in a weak voice. "Considering what's happened between us in the past, it would have made sense for you to leave me alone. Maybe even join in with it."

Kaneki readjusted his hold on Nishki's arm. "I don't hold any of that against you to be honest. Besides, it felt wrong to let them continue beating you up like that."

"You're a strange guy, you know that?"

"Haha, I've been told that before."

"Stop, this is the place."

After Kaneki knocked on the apartment's door, it was opened by a human girl with brown hair. She gasped in shock at Nishki's battered state before quickly pulling him inside. The young lady, who Kaneki assumed was called Kimi if Nishki's whisper when he saw her was anything to go by, tentatively thanked the coal-haired half ghoul before closing the door. With no further business to take care of, he turned around and began walking away towards his own apartment.

Unfortunately, he never noticed a certain purple-haired man watching him from a nearby rooftop.

"Oh, what could this be? Someone Kaneki-kun knows? Wonderful…"

(Next day: Elsewhere in the 20th ward):

Yamato was taking a little rooftop run on his way to work. Suddenly, another figure dropped down on the same roof as him. He tensed in preparation for a fight, but relaxed when he saw that the newcomer exhibited no hostility. It was a male ghoul. They were clad in a black leather jacket, blue denim jeans and wore an obsidian mask with reptilian features over their face.

"Hello Boss," the newcomer greeted as he stood up.

Yamato groaned. "I'm not the leader of you guys, stop calling me Boss already."

"Sorry Dragon, it's become a habit since we all look up to you."

Yamato folded his arms. "So, what did the Wyverns send you to tell me?"

"We wanted to let you know that Yamori has been seen active in the 20th ward and nearby areas."

"Jason's still hanging around here? Aw crap," complained the redhead. While he was capable of taking on the deranged ghoul, he'd much rather avoid the hassle of having to deal with him. "Anything else?"

The other ghoul shook his head. "No."

"Well, in that case," began Yamato. "Let me tell you about something that me and a friend came up with. It's called the Feeding Plan…"

(Kaze's apartment):

The young investigator stepped out of the bathroom, having just taken a shower. Again, their hunt for Jason had turned up with no real results, and the tension between him and Mado was still high. Drying his hair off and setting the towel on the drying rack, he pondered what to do next.

Work was finished for the day, and he'd already talked with Yuki before leaving. He'd just spoken with Rin over the phone too before taking his shower. She'd given him her sympathy for having to deal with Mado's hostility.

It was mid-afternoon, but he still had quite a bit of time to kill before night fell. Actually, he could use a good coffee to help relax and take his mind off things. Grabbing his keys and casual coat, he prepared to head off to Anteiku.

(Anteiku):

Kaneki was finishing up with washing the last few mugs and plates in the batch he was on whilst Touka went around gathering up more from the tables. There weren't many customers left by this point. Understandable, since it was getting towards the end of the day.

The bell rang as someone walked into the establishment. Touka turned to greet whoever it was, her eyes widening slightly along with Kaneki's when they registered the chocolate-haired agent.

"Hi," said Kaze with a friendly smile. "Touka, right? Could you please get me the usual coffee that I have whenever I'm here with Yamato?"

"Sure," the bluenette teen agreed. "Take a seat."

"Thanks." As he waited for his hot beverage, he allowed his mind to wonder on various topics. Amon seemed genuinely interested in the Feeding Plan, and from what he'd been able to gather some of the younger and more open minded CCG agents were too. However, Mado and some of the more established members were quite clearly against it. Maybe he should start looking to spread it outside the CCG, try getting in contact with college or university students or something.

The TV was on the news, giving a report about a girl and her younger brother, both of whom had been saved by "a ghoul wearing a black dragon mask" from an armed mugger. The corners of Kaze's mouth twitched into a smile. If Dragon continued pulling off heroics like this, maybe he'd have an easier time introducing the Feeding Plan to the public.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Touka setting down the mug in front of him and saying she hoped that he'd enjoy it. Clearing his mind from all the complicated matters of his life, he took hold of the porcelain handle and gazed out the window as he sipped his coffee.

(A few days later):

Kaneki was walking back to his apartment after the day's events. After finishing up at the humble coffee shop, Yoshimura had asked him to help Touka with her school studies. Partway through, one of her school friends had come to deliver some food, in addition to somehow misreading the situation and quickly leaving. He was surprised when Touka actually ate it, despite the fact that the normal human food would have adverse effects on her body.

The coal-haired youth took a deep breath of the early evening air. His thoughts wandered back to Nishki and his human girlfriend Kimi, briefly wondering how they were and how the blond ghoul's recovery was coming along. Kimi had met him by chance around two days ago, thanking him for helping Nishki.

He stopped in front of his apartment and was about to take his keys out when he noticed a slip of paper sticking out the letterbox. Checking his surroundings in mild worry, he took a hold of the paper, apprehension gripping his mind. He almost dropped the paper upon reading the message.

Turning on his heel, Kaneki bolted away towards the stairs. This was bad, really bad. If only Yamato were available, he'd certainly be able to take care of this without any problem, but he had no way of contacting the redhead teen. He could only hope that Touka would be willing to assist him. If not, then black-haired half ghoul would have no choice but to try dealing with this solo, even if he didn't think he was fully capable.

After all, he was certain that it was mostly his fault. Tsukiyama had taken Kimi hostage at an old church…

(Yamato's apartment):

The redhead ghoul was lounging on his bed, a novel in his hands. Suddenly, his phone began to ring. Fishing it out of his pocket, he saw Touka's name on the caller ID. A light frown forming on his face, he pressed answer.

"Hey Touka, what's up?" Yamato inquired.

"Sorry to bother you at this hour Yamato," came the younger teen's voice. "We kind of have an emergency on our hands. It's Tsukiyama again."

Yamato grit his teeth. "What's that moron done this time?"

"He's kidnapped some human girl that Kaneki knows, Nishki's girlfriend," explained Touka. "He's taken her to some old church and left Kaneki a note telling him to go there or she'll be killed."

A murderous growl left Yamato's throat. He stood up from his bed, grabbing his mask and leather jacket with his free hand. "Where is it?"

"I don't know," said Touka apologetically. "I'm following Kaneki right now. Go over to my place and follow the scent trail. Kaneki's should be right alongside it too."

"Will do," confirmed Yamato, now slipping on his shoes. "Keep him busy until I get there. You can tell me why you're not well enough to handle that parasite on your own later."

"Thanks."

The Dragon stepped out of his apartment and quickly locked the door behind him. Fitting his mask onto his face, he leaped over the railing to the ground below, the night air rushing past him.

(Old church):

Tsukiyama was gloating like a madman, which the teenage ghouls supposed he was. Kimi was tied up and blindfolded on the altar. The purple-haired gourmet had just described his perverse plan to feast on Kaneki whilst he was feasting on the captive Kimi.

Nishki was leaning on a pew next to the coal-haired half ghoul. He was beaten and bloody from his attempts to reclaim Kimi. Kaneki was also a little roughed up, as was Touka next to him. The pair had managed to get a few hits in, but Touka was weakened due to eating her friend Yoriko's food and Kaneki had very little combat experience. Needless to say, Tsukiyama had quite easily wiped the floor with them.

"Touka," whispered Kaneki. "You can beat Tsukiyama if you're at full strength right?"

The blue-haired girl looked at him curiously. She suddenly grimaced and held her stomach. "Yeah, but I'm nowhere near that right now. Damn, Yamato needs to get here quickly…"

Kaneki gulped. "I have an idea."

(Outside):

Yamato raced towards the old stone building that had just entered his view. Touka and Kaneki's respective scents went all the way up to and inside it. Upon reaching the doors, he slammed them open with both hands.

The redhead was just in time to see Touka bite into Kaneki's shoulder. Tsukiyama's eyes widened and he seemed to have a mini panic attack.

"H-he belongs to me!" the flamboyant ghoul screamed prior to rushing towards the teenage pair. Touka's kagune wing burst out of her back without warning and she knocked the incoming madman away.

"How stupid can you get?" the blue-haired girl stated rhetorically. She opened her lone visible eye, now black and red. "Nothing in this room belongs to you."

Filled with new strength as well as vengeful fury, she proceeded to give Tsukiyama a well-deserved beat down. Yamato calmly walked in and approached the two injured males while she took care of the purple-haired pest. He grabbed Nishki by the arm and helped him stand up straight. The blond muttered a thanks and weakly brushed his hand off. He began trudging over to his captive girlfriend.

"You okay Kaneki?" Yamato inquired, offering his hand.

The black-haired youth took it with a nod. "Yeah. He didn't hurt me too much because he wanted to eat me… while making me eat Kimi-san."

The Dragon growled dangerously. "That twisted piece of…"

"I really didn't want to do this," Tsukiyama remarked as he dodged one of Touka's strikes. He started dashing over to Kimi. "It seems like I must take a tactical refresher!"

That was when Yamato sprang into action. Within a second, he was right next to the gourmet, gripping the side of his head tightly with his right hand. With an angry shout, he twisted around and hurled Tsukiyama into a couple of wooden pews, shattering them.

Without even giving him a chance to recover, Yamato pounced on him and delivered a harsh hammer strike to the face. He brutally kicked his opponent in the gut, then performed an elbow drop aimed at his chest. Tsukiyama screamed in agony. Yamato grabbed him by the throat and hoisted him up off the ground. He held his free hand back like a spear.

"I warned you what would happen if you tried something like this you scumbag," Yamato snarled viciously, tightening his vice on the struggling ghoul. Tsukiyama's eyes were dilated with terror.

"Wait Yamato," Touka called. He turned his head back to look at her. Her expression was one of disgust. "Kaneki's saying not to kill him. That piece of trash isn't worth it anyway. If he's still stupid enough to pull another stunt like this, then all of Anteiku will kill him ourselves."

Yamato glanced at Kaneki. The nineteen year old was trembling slightly, but didn't look away. He turned back to the choking Tsukiyama. "You owe these kids your life you damn leech." Before anyone could really comprehend or protest, he savagely tore off all of Tsukiyama's limbs save for the right arm. He stomped on his stomach one last time. "If you're so desperate to eat then gorge on yourself."

He turned away and walked back towards the others. Touka started moving in Kimi's direction. Nishki had just untied her and removed the blindfold.

"Touka, what are you doing?" asked Kaneki fearfully.

"She knows too much," the younger teen replied. "I'm going to kill her."

"You can't!" Kaneki protested, but it fell on deaf ears. "Kimi-san is a good person, she won't betray us!"

Touka carried on, unfazed. "I can't risk it."

"What if Yoriko was to ever find out, would you kill her too?!" the half ghoul demanded desperately.

Touka froze, her eye wide. "I… I…"

"Leave it Touka," said Yamato as he stepped past her and stopped a few paces away. "She'll keep quiet. Besides, just look the blond guy." Nishki, battered and weak as he was, held the human protectively. "He was so happy just to finally get her back." The redhead resumed striding towards the exit casually.

"Beautiful," said Kimi when she saw Touka over Nishki's shoulder. The blue-haired girl jolted slightly at the comment, a confused expression on her face. A second later, she was bolting towards the exit, rushing past Yamato.

"Good grief," he whispered. Despite that, a small smirk formed on his face. "That girl is so headstrong."

(CCG: Mado's office):

The senior investigator gathered a bunch of paper in his hand. A cruel smile appeared on his countenance. "Dr Feuguchi… I think I'll be paying you a visit soon."

* * *

 **Oh, next chapter seems like it's going to be a real roundabout doesn't it? I also have quite the surprise planned for it too. If everything goes well, it should be up and ready in about a month.**


	7. Chapter 7: Family breakup

**Welcome back readers! Sorry for throwing out another short chapter, but I hope you still enjoy it all the same. Without any further ado, on with the story!**

 **Chapter 7:**

Family breakup

(CCG: Kaze's office):

The chocolate-haired teen gave a stretch before draining the last few dredges of his coffee. It was standard office stuff, nothing near what he enjoyed having at Anteiku. There was a knock at his door.

"Come in," he permitted. A moment later, Amon was stood before him.

"Get ready Kurokumo," the muscular agent instructed. "We're heading out now. Mado-san says that he's found a definite lead. There's a high chance that Jason will be there, or if he isn't then we'll be able to track him down a lot more easily."

Kaze nodded in acceptance. "Alright. Just give me a moment please."

(Yamato's apartment):

The Dragon was sitting down on his bed, staring at his phone with a complicated look in his amber orbs. He'd just finished having a small conversation with Kaneki. After the previous night's episode involving a certain purple-haired mad ghoul, he and Kaneki had traded numbers. Yamato had instructed him to give a ring if there was ever an emergency. He just hoped that his dark-haired friend wasn't too affected by Tsukiyama's second and hopefully final attempt on him.

Another problem was Jason, or Yamori. He was still hanging around the 20th ward for some reason. He'd heard rumours that the blond berserker had been seen near Dr Feuguchi's private surgery. He didn't know what business Yamori had with Ryoko's husband and Hinami's father, but he didn't think it was anything pleasant.

Pocketing the device, he stood up and began to get ready for work. The rent wasn't going to pay itself after all.

(CCG):

Kaze's hazel eyes scanned over the paper that Mado had handed him and the others. It outlined the basics of what they were going to do. Still, he couldn't quite grasp the reason for it.

"Excuse me, but why are we going to a private doctor's surgery?" he queried.

Mado smirked. "Simple Kurokumo-kun. Jason has been sighted in that vicinity, quite often as well mind you. I believe we have a good chance of finding him there." He picked up his quinque case and shifted to face the door. "Well then, let's get going shall we?"

(Feuguchi Surgery):

The group of ghoul investigators stood a few metres away from the small, unassuming surgery. Nobody else was around. It was too quiet. Kaze had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach though. Something else was nearby, something dangerous.

Suddenly, one of the building's walls burst as a figure was thrown out, pieces of the destroyed barrier following him. Standing inside however, was a large blond man in a white suit. He was taller and even more muscular than Amon. In his right hand was what looked like some sort of custom made bolt cutter.

"I knew it," stated Mado, walking forward calmly. His voice had a slight tone of joy to it. "You were here after all… Jason."

Kaze gripped the hilt of his quinque tighter. 'So this is him,' he thought. Their musclebound target cracked one of his fingers. Kureo Mado started running towards him, quinque at the ready.

"I suppose I have a few minutes to play around with you," mused Jason.

Kaze approached the man who'd been thrown out of the surgery whilst Mado and Jason began an intense series of clashes. It was rather amazing to witness the aged investigator matching the S-class ghoul without any visible strain. Soon enough, Amon jumped in to assist.

Kaze crouched down next to the dazed and barely conscious victim. He could hazard a guess on who this was.

"Dr Feuguchi?" the chocolate-haired inquired, gently shaking the man's shoulder with his free hand. "Are you okay?" His eyes settled on the young agent and widened. "It's alright, I'm not going to harm you," Kaze assured, slowly getting up and taking a few steps back. "I was just making sure that you were still alive." He turned around, setting his hazel eyes back to the fight against Jason.

The hulking ghoul was dodging or blocking all the attacks sent his way, an amused smile plastered on his face. Every now and then, he sent a strike of his own, which similarly avoided or deflected by his two assailants. Sparks flew as both sides repeatedly clashed rapidly in a flurry of acrobatic movements.

Kaze couldn't help but feel his respect for Mado rise. Forget looking like he was straining, the old man seemed as though he was having the time of his life. The chocolate-haired investigator saw an opening whilst Jason's back was to him. Amon signalled with his eyes to take it.

Readying his quinque sword, Kaze dashed forward as Mado and his partner attacked Jason again, forcing him to block both at the same time. Kaze quickly approached and prepared to slash the ghoul's back or stab him. He saw Jason's foot twitch and immediately felt something amiss. He dug his feet into the ground and brought his weapon up just in time to block a powerful kick from their target, although he was still forced back a few metres.

Jason disengaged from the lock and leaped away to a clear space.

"Sorry, but I don't have any more time to play around with you doves," he said. With a speed that one wouldn't normally associate with such a large build, he leaped away and sped off.

Mado clicked his tongue in disappointment. Turning around, he began walking towards Dr Feuguchi, who was still on the ground. "It's a shame that he got away. In any case, we'll have to take this man back to headquarters for interrogation." Before Kaze could interject that he was a victim, a kagune started emerging from the man's back, pushing him up onto his feet. Mado smiled, as though he'd known all along. "Wonderful."

(Kaze's apartment):

The young agent fell onto his bed with a weary sigh, his mind a tired muddle of thoughts and emotions. Mado had ended up killing the doctor after a small scuffle. Kaze could tell that the man wasn't accustomed to fighting at all and he probably never harmed any humans, but Mado wouldn't have cared either way if he'd voiced this. The old coot probably would have found some way to get his reprimanded for it.

After being dismissed for the day, he'd gone to Anteiku for a hot drink and sandwich at Rin's insistence that he relieve some stress. The dark purple-haired woman had been troubled when Kaze recounted the events to her in his office. She tried to console him as best as she could, stating that there wasn't anything he could have done to help the man against Mado, yet a small part in the back of his mind wondered if that was true.

He'd encountered the mother and daughter from a few days ago again on his way to the establishment. The girl was happily telling her mother about how her big brother had taught her some new words in a book she'd been reading. It had somehow helped to lift his spirits a little.

(A few days later: Anteiku):

Yamato had his hands buried in his pockets as he approached the coffee shop. One of the wyverns had told him the previous night that Ryoko's husband had been attacked by 'doves' after Jason had literally thrown the man out of his own home/surgery. He was dropping by to ask how they were holding up.

The bell rang as usual when he entered the premises. He gave a nod to Touka when she greeted him and asked for the usual black coffee made by Irimi. Thankfully, hardly anybody else was around.

"You seem troubled Yamato-kun," observed Yoshimura as the redhead took a seat at the counter.

"I heard what happened to Mr Feuguchi," the Dragon replied quietly. "I was wondering how Ryoko-san and Hinami are doing."

The elderly ghoul's features turned slightly distressed. "Ryoko-chan is rather upset, but she'd keeping up a strong front for her daughter. Hinami hasn't been told yet though. Ryoko-chan is going to visit his grave later today, without her daughter."

"I see," Yamato mused as his beverage was placed in front of him. "Please give her my condolences, as well as that if she ever needs help I'm willing to give it."

Yoshimura tipped his head in acceptance. "I will."

(CCG: Mado's office):

The aged ghoul investigator smiled as he read a recent report. He'd been right again. Someone, most likely the ghoul's mate, had visited the grave and buried his mask there. Chances were that she was still in the 20th ward somewhere. All he had to do was find a way to draw her out.

(A few days later: Kaze's office):

The hazel eyed youth exited Yuki's room, having just finished a small conversation with her. If things went well, he'd be able to take her out for a stroll again in maybe a few days. There was a knock at the door.

"Enter," Kaze permitted. A second later, one of the messengers stepped inside.

"Agent Kurokumo, you're being called by special investigator Kuro Mado," he informed. "He wants you geared up and ready by the entrance in ten minutes."

Kaze quirked an eyebrow in mild confusion. Nevertheless, he gave a positive response. "Alright. Thanks for letting me know." Still, he couldn't help the sinking feeling in his gut as he got ready. Something terrible was going to happen.

(Elsewhere in the 20th ward):

Ryoko Feuguchi was walking through the streets with her daughter. There was a light drizzle of rain pouring down, making her all the more thankful for the umbrella that Yoshimura had kindly lent her. Hinami suddenly froze mid-step.

"Hinami, what's wrong?" the mother ghoul asked in concern. Her daughter's mouth steadily widened into a smile.

"It's father!" Hinami exclaimed happily. "He's nearby!" She completely missed the look of horror on her mother's face as she started running off without warning.

"Hinami wait!" Ryoko shouted, running after her.

'Father's here!' Hinami thought excitedly. 'That means the scary man must have gone away, we can go back home!' In her eagerness, she couldn't hear her mother begging her to stop and come back.

A few minutes later, Hinami ran into a clearing between some buildings. However, instead of seeing her father she was greeted by the sight of several ghoul investigators. Her confusion quickly turned to fear when she realised how dangerous the situation had become. Her mother finally caught up to her and took a hold of her shoulders, before she too realised their company.

Mado's leering smile grew larger. Not only had he lured his target, but a daughter as well. Soon, he'd have two new quinques added to his collection.

"Mrs Feuguchi I presume?" he stated. The woman didn't respond, although she tightened her hold on her daughter. Two more CCG agents appeared behind them and blocked off their escape.

Kaze remained where he stood, a sense of surprise coming over him as he recognised the pair. It was the same mother and daughter who he'd encountered a few times over the last couple of days. Seeing the absolute terror in the little girl's eyes, he was instantly reminded of the night he'd met Yuki. His stomach twisted into a knot. This was all wrong. Worse, he was unable to do anything because of Mado.

"Hinami, run," Ryoko whispered, gently moving her daughter in the direction of the young man with chocolate brown hair. There was an opening near him that she'd be able to get through if nobody else got in the way.

Feeling a push from her mother, Hinami bolted towards the exit that was about a metre in front of Kaze. Mado and Amon tried to go and stop the little girl, but were forced to quickly move back as Ryoko's kagune swiped at them.

"Kurokumo, after her!" Mado barked, snapping Kaze out of his slight daze. He saw the mother ghoul try sending her kagune in his direction, but Amon intercepted it. Mado glared at him. "What are you doing you fool?! After her!"

Gritting his teeth out of frustration, Kaze turned on his heel and ran after the daughter ghoul. He pushed himself as fast as he could go in the rain, mentally screaming all the while. He saw his quarry not too far ahead. She seemed to realise that he was pursuing her and began running more desperately.

All of a sudden, Kaze ground to a halt. He couldn't do it. That little girl was innocent, as was her mother. He was pretty sure that the late father had been too. No longer hearing the footfalls of the agent chasing her, Hinami also came to a stop. Curiously, ignoring the warning ringing in her mind, she turned back and looked at him. A look of guilt and frustration was present on his face. It melted away to one of deep sadness when he looked straight at her.

Kaze whispered "Go" to the shocked girl, slowly turning around. Gripping his quinque tightly, he started rushing back the way he'd come. That senile old coot be damned, he was _not_ going to kill an innocent little girl who had just lost both her parents.

When he returned to the clearing, the mother was on her knees and taking deep, exhausted breaths. Her kakugan eyes widened when they registered his return.

"You're not used to fighting are you?" Mado asked rhetorically, holding his broken quinque out towards her. He swivelled his head to look at Kaze, frowning slightly when he noticed that the daughter wasn't with him. "Where's the girl Kurokumo-kun?"

Kaze lowered his head, his right arm shaking. "She got away…"

Mado clicked his tongue. "Great, another loose end to take care of." Returning his gaze back to Ryoko, he took out a new silver briefcase. "It's a shame that you broke my quinque, but I'm not too upset since I've been wanting to test this new one out." Kaze had a bad, foreboding feeling as Mado undid the clasps. He took out what looked like the late Mr Feuguchi's kagune, shocking Ryoko. "Say hello, to your husband!" The elderly agent raised the weapon up, a sickening smirk on his face. "So, do you have any last words?"

Ryoko lowered her head, her hair overshadowing her face. When she lifted it up again, her eyes were closed with a small trail of tears leaking out of the corners and her mouth set in a smile.

Mado raised an eyebrow before chuckling. "My, how interesting." He swung the quinque to decapitate her.

A clang echoed through the clearing. Kaze stood protectively in front of Ryoko, his quinque raised and blocking Mado's weapon. Everyone (including Kaneki hiding around the corner) stared at him in disbelief. He pushed against Mado, slowly forcing him back.

The senior investigator glared at Kaze in undisguised anger. "What do you think you're doing Kurokumo-kun?"

The chocolate-haired teen gave a strong thrust before taking a step back, pushing Mado out of the lock. "This is wrong! She's innocent damn it!" Ryoko stared at him in astonishment. "I'm sorry Mado-san, but I won't allow you to kill this woman."

"Kurokumo-kun," said Mado dangerously. "She is a _ghoul_. An enemy of humans and expert at deception. It's bad enough that you sympathise with these monsters, even doing something as foolish as sparing that other one and keeping her with you, but this is too far."

Kaze didn't lower his sword. "She's a _person_! You said it yourself, she's not even used to fighting!"

"Watch your tone boy," Mado snarled back, approaching him with small, deliberate steps. "I'm already going to file you for insubordination. Do you really want more on top of that?"

"I won't let you kill her," reiterated Kaze resolutely, a fierce determination in his eyes. "I'll take her into my custody like I've done with Yuki."

Mado gave a feral roar and charged at the younger agent, clashing quinques with him. "Wake up you delusional fool! There is no coexisting with ghouls! Stop dreaming and face reality!"

Kaze deflected another strike and sent one of his own, aiming at the man's upper right arm. "I've already opened up to reality long ago! And I'm sick of it! This world needs to change!"

Mado blocked the attack and kneed Kaze in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. As he doubled over, the old man viciously slammed his fist into the back of his head. Ryoko let out a strangled gasp. Not even a moment after he hit the floor, Kaze grabbed Mado's ankle and toppled him. He pounced forward onto the senior's midsection and punched him across the jaw. By this point, both investigators had dropped their respective quinques. They continued brawling and grappling, rolling across the rain drenched floor.

"Get off me you impudent brat!" Mado demanded, grabbing Kaze by the throat.

The hazel eyed youth grasped the offending wrist and pried it away. "Not until you agree to leave her alive! She could have easily taken advantage of this and killed us already, but she hasn't even got up!" He wrestled Mado to the ground and pinned his shoulders down. "Please Mado-san, we need to stop killing innocents, it only makes things worse!"

Giving an animalistic snarl, Mado grabbed Kaze's arms and pulled him down to the ground. Rolling away before he could be hindered, Mado scrambled to his feet and grabbed his new quinque. He charged towards the frozen Ryoko, who had been watching everything in complete shock. Kaze screamed in protest and got up to chase him before he could complete the deed. Suddenly, Mado was blocked by none other than Amon. The large man deflected his partner's quinque with his own, astounding him.

"A-Amon?" breathed the old man in disbelief. There was a hint of betrayal in his tone as well as his eyes.

Amon's face remained neutral, though a slight grimace was detectable. "Sir, please stand down."

A varying array of emotions flashed across Mado's countenance. "Unbelievable… Even you?"

Amon shook his head. "No. I'm not taking anyone's side here. While you and Kurokumo-kun were… _disputing_ , I called director Marude. He said to let Kurokumo-kun go ahead with this. If anything happens, it will be entirely his responsibility. He's also going to be penalised one he get back to HQ."

Mado scoffed in irritation. "So be it." He put the quinque away and shot Kaze a nasty look.

Kaze sent Amon an appreciative nod, however the muscular agent just lightly shook his head with an unreadable expression before walking off to accompany Mado. Letting out a tired sigh and rubbing his slightly sore jaw, he calmly made his way over to a stunned Ryoko.

"Sorry about that," he apologised, offering her his hand. "My name is Kaze Kurokumo. Would you mind telling me yours ma'am?"

The mother ghoul gently grasped the outstretched hand and allowed herself to be helped up. "Ryoko Feuguchi."

Kaze gave a single nod. "Well, it looks like you're going to be stuck with me for a while Ryoko-san. Sorry about practically forcing this on you."

"No, it's okay," the woman assured. "You didn't need to do any of this. If you don't mind, why did you?"

"Well, let's just say that I don't like having to watch innocent people die," Kaze answered solemnly. "I saw the emotion and genuine concern you had for your daughter. None of that was faked… You're both innocent, just like another ghoul I met some time ago." He heard one of the others shout his name. "Come on, we should get going. I'd suggest you stay near me and away from Mado-san."

Ryoko nodded in acceptance. "Okay."

Hidden around the corner, Kaneki and Hinami watched with wide eyes as the pair walked away after the others. They'd need to tell the others at Anteiku about this.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap! So, how many of you saw that twist with Ryoko coming? Did you like it? Please review and let me know your thoughts. The next chapter will be showing the repercussions of Kaze's decision.**


	8. Chapter 8: Repercussion and revelation

**Hey everyone, welcome back! I hope that you all enjoyed the previous chapter, particularly the twist where Kaze stepped in to save Ryoko. This chapter focuses on some consequences of those actions...**

 **Hope you all like it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8:**

Repercussion and revelation

(CCG headquarters):

Kaze stood before director Marude, in the latter's office. The Snape-faced man had given a mixed sigh before listing Kaze's reported 'offences' followed by the usual spiel and reprimanding lecture.

"In short," stated Marude. "You will be placed under probation from active field work for a month. You are under no circumstance to start your own, or join anyone else's field operation. You may however submit a request for an operation to be carried out should you find something and be able to present proof for it, under the condition that you yourself take no active part in it. If you commit any further offences during that period, then the probation may be extended or your special investigator license revoked. Someone will be sent later on to retrieve your quinque for the duration of this probation. That is all."

The brown-haired nineteen year old's face betrayed nothing. "Yes sir."

Marude gave him an equally blank look. "Make sure none of those ghouls under you get up to anything. Dismissed."

Turning around, Kaze exited the room and walked off towards his own office. He paid no heed to the murmurs of a few people as he passed by them. He didn't regret his decision to save Ryoko Feuguchi, even if it had landed him a month of probation and simple office work that would bore him to death and drive him up the wall.

Upon initially arriving at the building, he'd first gone over to his personal office and led Ryoko towards the door to Yuki's room. He'd warned the woman that the room was bugged and under constant CCTV surveillance, so she should be careful in regards to what she says, especially if it was in regards to her friends. Other than that, he'd introduced her to the teen ghoul currently living there, told her to let him know if she ever needed anything, then set off to face Marude and the consequences of his (heroic) deeds.

Reaching his destination, he calmly opened the door and stepped in. Away from any immediately prying eyes, he finally released a deep exhale. If only people weren't so set to their preconceptions and stereotypes. It would definitely help with the Feeding Plan's progress, especially if he wasn't infamous as some kind of crazy rebel. Speaking of which, he really needed to have a brainstorming session with Yamato.

Approaching the metal door to Yuki's and now also Ryoko's room, he gave it a quick knock. Hearing both give a sound of approval, he typed in the code and entered. He received a small, yet not unwelcome, surprise when he saw that Rin was there too, talking amiably with the two female ghouls. Each of them was sat in one of the three sofa chairs around the coffee table.

"Hi Kaze," his fellow investigator greeted. "Sorry about coming in here without telling you."

He nonchalantly waved it off. "It's fine. Yuki likes spending time with you and I've given you open permission to come and go as you want anyway."

Rin's expression turned somewhat anxious. "How'd it go?"

Kaze stuck his hands into his trouser pockets. "I'm on probation from active field work for a month. They're taking away my quinque too." He caught Ryoko's face adopting a guilty look. "It's not your fault Ryoko-san, I actually expected an outcome like this to happen anyway. Me saving you was my decision and I don't regret it at all."

She sent him a grateful and understanding nod. "Okay. Thank you again."

"No problem," he dismissed politely. "Although I don't think I'll be able to take Yuki, or you, out for a walk around again anytime soon."

"Don't worry Kaze," Yuki assured. "At least I have someone new to talk with now."

The chocolate-haired investigator nodded. "That's one positive way of looking at things I suppose."

"So, anything else planned?" inquired Rin.

"Sort of," he replied. "I'm thinking of meeting up with Yamato soon so that we can brainstorm on the Feeding Plan. You should probably come along too, he hasn't seen you in a while after all, and we could always use a different perspective."

"Sounds good," she agreed.

"Sorry to interrupt," Ryoko spoke out. "But what is this Feeding Plan you mentioned?"

The two friendly agents gave her genuine smiles. "Oh, sorry for not mentioning this to you earlier. I really think that you'll like it too. You see, I have this best friend back from my school days…"

(Anteiku):

Yamato craned his neck from side to side as he drew closer to the humble coffee shop. There was a light drizzle of rain still falling, but it didn't worry him much. However, upon entering and seeing the café empty, along with the sign flipped to "CLOSED", he felt that something was amiss.

He carefully approached the door to the staff section and knocked. A second or so later, he heard Yoshimura give him permission to enter. Yomo was also present. Hinami was sat next to Kaneki and quietly crying, the coal-haired teen comforting her. Everyone else sat down sombrely in a melancholic silence.

Placing his hands into his pockets calmly, an action contrasting to the serious expression now on his face, Yamato met addressed Yoshimura. "What happened?"

However, before the elderly ghoul could respond, Touka interrupted in a rather heated manner. "Those scumbags ambushed Ryoko-san and Hinami, that's what! Those disgusting doves took her away after she bought time for Hinami to run off! Your _friend_ was part of it!" Her lone visible eye was glaring at the Dragon, as though he was somehow to blame too.

"Kaze?" Yamato inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"It's not like that!" Kaneki defended suddenly, catching their attention. Still consoling Hinami, he continued. "I was watching from around the corner. Hinami found me when she ran away and asked me to help. The old man, Mado I think his name was, he was going to… kill Ryoko-san, but Kurokumo-san protected her. He even fought against him, saying that it was wrong to murder an innocent person. One of the other investigators called someone using his phone, then intervened and told Mado to stop. Then Kurokumo-san helped her up and they went with the others."

Touka scoffed. "Yeah, probably just to execute her privately, or at the very least throw her in some hell-hole of a prison."

"No," Yamato refuted calmly, crossing his arms. A contemplative look was present in his amber eyes. "If it's Kaze, and he really intervened like that, then he won't let anything bad happen to her. He already has another ghoul safe under his custody, he'll probably try to pull something similar for Ryoko-san." The redhead levelled a light glare against the blue-haired teenage ghoul. "In the future, I'd appreciate if you didn't try to accuse my best friend or make him a target of your frustrations. Also, don't say anything that will upset Hinami any further. It's hard enough for her to deal with this already." Touka held her tongue and shrunk back, sufficiently cowed and slightly embarrassed as well as irritated.

"It's probably best if Hinami lays low for some time," Yomo stated evenly. "There will be a search going on for her and those investigators who were involved will be able to recognise her."

Yamato nodded in agreement. "Anteiku's the safest place for her to stay right now. I was planning to meet up with Kaze sometime soon to discuss more on advancing the Feeding Plan. I'll try to get some info regarding Ryoko-san too."

"Thank you Yamato-kun," said Yoshimura appreciatively. He stood up from his seat. "Would you like some coffee before you go? I'll make it on the house."

"Sure," Yamato accepted with a small smile.

(CCG HQ: Kaze's office):

The chocolate-haired agent released a sigh as he finished up the latest batch of work at his desk. It was now just over a week into his probation period. Nothing but dull, boring and dreary office work mainly centred around reports and other such paperwork. At least, that would have been the case if he didn't have two friendly ghouls literally only a few seconds away whom he could talk to every so often.

At Rin's insistence, Yuki had been given a bunch of educational books to help her get up to the average level of a girl her age. Fortunately, the blonde ghoul was genuinely happy at the gesture, remarking that it would let her be more like a normal teenager studying and learning.

Ryoko was mostly settled in by now too, seeming rather comfortable with her new living arrangements. She got along very well with Yuki too, so that was a bonus. Still, Kaze knew that she was hiding a lot of pain caused by the separation from her daughter. The poor girl must have been scared out of her mind too and incredibly lonely without her mother. He could only hope to someday be able to reunite them under safe circumstances.

Leaning back into his chair, the youth lazily retrieved his phone from his pocket. Dialling Yamato's number, he waited patiently for his friend to answer.

"Hey Kaze, what's up?" Yamato asked in greeting from the other end. "I just finished up with work for the day."

"Same here," Kaze replied. "I was thinking of meeting up if you were free. We need to get some brainstorming done on the Feeding Plan after all."

The redhead's voice chuckled. "I was actually thinking of doing that too. How about the park where we met up last time when you were taking your _charge_ out for a walk?"

"Yeah, that's fine," the teenage investigator complied. "I'm going to bring Rin along too, that okay with you?"

"Perfect," Yamato approved. "I haven't seen her in ages, plus it gives us another mind to work with and another perspective."

Kaze smiled. "Alright, we'll see you there." Ending the call, he stood up and started making his way to the door, intending to go to his female friend's office.

(Park):

Yamato walked steadily over to the table where he'd met Kaze and Yuki previously. Taking a deep breath of the cleaner air, he took a seat. A few minutes later, he saw his best friend approaching him along with a young woman who had fair skin, long dark purple hair with black tips and warm blue eyes. He waved at them welcomingly as they drew closer.

"Kaze, glad you could make it," the incognito ghoul greeted when the young agents reached him. "It good to see you again too Rin. Loving the hair as always."

Rin gave him a smile in response. "Thanks Yamato. Sorry that I haven't spoken to you much lately, but the paperwork I have to deal with is monstrous. We should have a catch-up session sometime soon."

Yamato waved her concern off reassuringly. "It's fine, really. You guys are busy doing your jobs to keep the public safe, I couldn't hold you to fault for that."

"Well, now that we're here," Kaze opened. "Any ideas on how to further our little project? Personally, I've been thinking of getting in contact with colleges and universities."

"Good idea," Yamato approved. "They should be a little more open-minded to this sort of thing, particularly the students."

Kaze nodded. "Yeah. There've been a few news reports about that Dragon ghoul recently too, about how he's been saving a number of people from dangerous situations. We can try incorporating that as one of our main proofs and driving points."

Rin added her own suggestion. "Well, if you do decide to get in touch with them, I think that you should send it anonymously but still under some sort of CCG capacity. It'll give it more credit."

The three childhood friends continued discussing and bouncing ideas in a similar vein until the late afternoon. When the sky was starting to turn bright from the setting sun, they decided to finish for the day.

"We should make a private chat group for this," proposed Rin. "It'll let us update each other on any progress as well as keep us in touch without needing to physically get together."

"I hadn't thought of that," mused Yamato. He flashed her an appreciative grin. "Since you had the brains to put it forward, I'll let you be in charge of running that and making sure we have a good platform to work on."

"Sure."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, they stood up from the table. Rin set off on her own, saying that she was headed to her apartment. Yamato and Kaze would be walking together for a while until the paths to their respective residences diverged.

Since they were fairly fair from the more business orientated districts, not many people were about. The two friends continued on their way, making small talk over random topics. Subtly, Yamato asked him if anything new had happened. After a brief moment of consideration, Kaze told him about the recent operation in which he'd saved Ryoko from death and the consequences of his actions.

"I feel sorry for that little girl," the hazel eyed investigator revealed solemnly. "To have to go through something as terrible as that. She probably thinks that her mother's dead. I wonder if she's okay…"

"You did everything you could man," Yamato consoled. "I'm sure that the daughter knows someone she can stay with."

Kaze sighed and shook his head. "I don't know man. She's just a little kid. I wish I could help her somehow. Or at least find her before anybody else from the CCG does, at least that way I could try taking her under my custody too."

Yamato had an unreadable look in his amber eyes and a noticeable smile as he regarded his best friend. "You really mean that, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Kaze affirmed, his facing showing an honestly determined expression. "It doesn't matter to me whether she's a ghoul or a human, she's just an innocent little girl wanting to live." The pair fell into a comfortable silence after that, each lost in their own thoughts.

A while later, when the sun was halfway down the horizon, they prepared to say farewell and go their separate ways. Suddenly, a group of around seven cloaked figures jumped down in front of them, setting the friends on edge. Their cloaks were dark grey and hooded. In contrast, bone white masks obscured their faces. The masks had no details, only oval shaped holes for their eyes. Eyes with crimson irises and pitch black sclera.

Kaze quickly scanned their surroundings. There wasn't another person in sight. He and Yamato were completely on their own. The ghoul at the front of the group took a step forward, prompting the duo to tense up in preparation. The ghoul's gaze lingered on Yamato for a second, then switched to Kaze.

"Kaze Kurokumo," he spoke, his voice sounding computerised, most likely due to the mask. "For your repeated disruption and interference, you are hereby sentenced to execution."

"Yamato, get out of here," Kaze instructed quietly yet firmly. "If they all focus on me, you should be able to escape." Inwardly, he was cursing his misfortune at not having any weapon to defend himself with.

However, Yamato moved forward and stood in front of his best friend protectively. "No, you stay back and stay safe Kaze. I'll deal with this." He was openly glaring at the bunch of hostile ghouls. "I don't know who the hell you guys think you are, but he's under my protection. I won't let you lay a finger on him."

One of the other assembled ghouls stepped forward, seemingly angry. "Insolent fool. We were considering letting you live, but you seem eager to die as well. Although, I suppose that's a fitting fate for a filthy traitor such as yourself. Sympathising with human trash, disgusting."

Kaze was staring in bewilderment. Yamato turned his head back to face him, a melancholy smile on his face. "I'm sorry about keeping this from you Kaze. I've been wanting to tell you for years now, but I could never find the right situation for it."

The young agent was about to ask his friend what he meant, but halted when he caught sight of him taking out something from under his shirt. His hazel eyes widened in shock when they recognised the obsidian draconic mask with imprinted scales. His mouth dropped open in disbelief, especially when he witnessed pure black leaking into the whites of Yamato's eyes whilst his amber irises morphed to a blood red.

Within a second, Yamato secured the mask to his face and turned his full attention to the group of ghoul assassins. The dragon leaped forward at the same time as the entire group did. Whilst airborne, he released his ukaku wings and launched a barrage of crystallised spikes towards his opponents, forcing them to start dodging and preventing any of them from getting around him to Kaze.

The lead enemy ghoul snarled furiously and released his own kagune, a koukaku type that spiralled around his arm like makeshift armour and ended in a single edged great sword. Following their leader, the others unleashed their predatory organs also, adding three ukakus, two bikakus and an additional koukaku to the fight. The great sword ghoul lunged at Yamato, thrusting his kagune forward.

The Dragon ducked under the incoming threat and retaliated by forcefully driving his elbow into his foe's gut, pushing the fist with his opposite hand for more power. When he heard the ghoul splutter and wheeze, he rapidly dropped to all fours and swept the hostile off his feet using his leg.

However, before he could deliver a killing blow, he was made to dodge an incoming blow from the ghoul's subordinate, one of the ukaku ones. Hopping back, Yamato fired another volley of spikes to keep them at bay. The second koukaku user, his kagune taking a form akin to two shields over his forearms, decided to charge through the attack. The shards were either blocked or deflected by his koukaku, leading Yamato to switch tactics.

The redhead ghoul dismissed his wings and dashed forward to intercept his adversary. When the two entered striking range, the assassin thrust his armoured right fist forward, his left coiled and ready to launch an immediate follow-up. At the last moment, Yamato leaped over his opponent's shoulders. His crystallised ukaku wings bursting forth from his back, he spun around in mid-air and swiftly decapitated his target.

The second he touched down, the Dragon quickly grabbed the dead ghoul's falling body and hurled it towards his enraged allies, knocking the slower ones down. The leader charged in again, slashing multiple times with his large blade. He had to dodge again mid-movement when one of the opposing ukakus jumped in and attempted to strike him, leaving him in an awkward and precariously balanced position.

The two remaining ukakus capitalised on the opportunity and attacked. Yamato just about managed to block their assault enough to mitigate any serious damage, but was still sent rolling across the floor for a fair distance.

Meanwhile, one of the bikaku ghouls saw the chance to make a hit at their primary target, Kaze. He charged towards the unarmed human, readying his kagune for a killing blow. Fortunately, the chocolate-haired youth noticed the approaching threat and hastily rolled out of the way. Kaze quickly shot up when the ghoul repositioned and leaped toward him. However, instead of retreating, lunged forward, catching his attacker by surprise. While his adversary's guard was still down, Kaze dipped and rammed his shoulder into the ghoul's chest. He followed it up with a straight kick thrust into the assassin's gut.

The hostile ghoul staggered back unsteadily, only for a volley of small crimson spears to stab into him from behind. Before he could recover or even cry out, Yamato was right behind him and speedily snapped his neck, then drove one of his red wings through the torso for good measure.

Dropping the corpse, the Dragon generated a pair of crystalline spikes which he grabbed as the fell from his wings. He quickly pushed them into Kaze's hands. "Use these to defend yourself if they get too close. They should work fine as daggers." Without waiting for a response, he spun on his heel and literally leaped back into the fray.

Pushing his numerous erratic thoughts to the side, Kaze took a combat stance with his new improvised weapons at the ready. It didn't seem likely that he'd need to use them though, since Yamato was attacking the remaining enemies with a renewed fervour. The Dragon wasn't giving any of them a chance to even get close to his best friend again.

Deciding to overwhelm with numbers, the five hostile ghouls charged him as one. Yamato simply held his ground and waited calmly. Just as they were on the verge of getting him into their striking distance, the redhead unleashed his twin rinkaku tentacles, coiled together as a tail like last time.

Capitalising on their momentary surprise, Yamato uncoiled the tail and used the longer reach of his hybrid kagune to quickly impale the remaining bikaku in addition to one of the ukakus. Releasing a loud battle cry from his throat, the Dragon rushed forth to deliver a brutal assault.

His twin rinkakus flicked off their victims and ensnared the leader of the group before stabbing him through the head and heart. He grabbed the last two, ukakus, by their throats and slammed them into the pavement. His solid wings then bisected them from the head down.

Standing up straight, Yamato let his muscles relax as his predatory organs quickly absorbed any blood splattered on them. Withdrawing his kagune, he slowly shifted to face Kaze. A tense, uncomfortable silence settled between the old friends.

"All this time," Kaze began, his voice somewhat quiet but neutral. "You were the Dragon?"

A dry, humourless laugh came from the ghoul, his eyes returning to their normal amber colouration. "Yeah. Believe me, I've been wanting to tell you for years, especially ever since we came up with the Feeding Plan. You're my best friend and I didn't like keeping you in the dark, but I was never able to find an appropriate time or place to tell you, more so when you consider that you became a CCG agent."

The chocolate-haired human nodded slowly in understanding. "I suppose that this explains quite a few things though," he remarked in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Like why you always ate so little. How did you do that by the way, I thought ghouls couldn't eat human food."

Even though it was hidden by his mask, Yamato's mouth twitched into a small smile. "I used to regurgitate it back out later on in private."

"That makes sense," Kaze remarked. His expression turned an odd mix of strained and serious. "Look, Yamato… I get why you kept this from me, it is pretty big. I won't lie, it's gonna take me a while to get used to, but… You're still my best friend, plus you just saved my life. I value our friendship and I still want to carry on seeing you and discussing things with you like always."

Under his mask, Yamato's smile grew. "Thanks Kaze, it really means a lot to me to hear that from you. I feel the same way about our friendship. I guess this actually works out in our favour when you think about it, we can talk a lot more openly now and I can tell you about what I know of events going on in the ghoul side of the world."

"Yeah, you're right," Kaze agreed. "I could tell you about any CCG related stuff that I know too." A genuine, enthusiastic smile appeared on his countenance. "This could seriously open up so many more avenues for the Feeding Plan and co-existence! Heck, we could be amongst the biggest proof! Although, it's probably wise to wait before announcing something like that. I'll keep your secret to myself, I promise."

"Thanks man," said Yamato appreciatively. "Although if you want to let Rin know, then I don't mind, so long as she keeps quiet and you can tell her discreetly."

Kaze nodded in understanding and compliance. "Right. I'll see what I can do."

"I have an idea," Yamato began. "I'll take you to your CCG place, like this. I'll drop you off and mention how you were attacked or something. It should get you some leeway, right? Plus, it should help giving proof to the claim that not all ghouls are evil monsters."

"Yeah, that could work," Kaze agreed. "Alright buddy, I'm leaving myself in your care."

(CCG HQ: Outside):

People were walking about and minding their own business as usual. Suddenly, a masked figure dropped in from seemingly nowhere, carrying someone over his shoulder. All the special investigators in the area immediately tensed up in preparation for a confrontation once they recognised the newcomer to be the ghoul known as Dragon.

Calmly, as though he wasn't surrounded by people ready to fight him, Dragon stood up and hoisted his load off his shoulder. He slowly set Kaze down on his own too feet, making sure to do nothing that could be perceived as threatening.

"Thanks a lot," said Kaze somewhat loudly, enough for all present to hear. "You really saved my life, literally."

Dragon nodded in acknowledgment. "No problem." He turned to face the building's entrance, where a few senor agents, like Amon and Shinohara, were gathered and poised, watching him warily. "You people should take better care of your agents, especially one so young and amongst your best. A group of ghouls ambushed and tried to assassinate him since he was unarmed and mostly defenceless. Luckily, I was in the area and managed to deal with them." Shifting back to Kaze, he patted him on the shoulder. "Stay safe Kurokumo-san. I look forward to this plan of yours that I've heard about. I yearn for peace and co-existence and am willing to ally myself with you if it means achieving that."

Before anybody else could say or do anything, the Dragon stepped back and released his kagune wings. Without a break in his motion, he instantly leaped high into the air and towards the roof of a nearby skyscraper, soon disappearing over the edge.

Kaze felt someone approach him. Turning in his heels, he saw that it was Amon. The large man had concern and intrigue present in his eyes.

"Kurokumo, are you okay?" he inquired, briefly scanning him for any injuries.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kaze replied. "Thanks for your concern Amon-san. What Dragon just said was true though. He really did save my life from an assassination attempt, then offered to bring me here since it was a safe place."

Amon's eyes and expression became unreadable and neutral. He stared off the direction that the Dragon had vanished. "Is that so…"

* * *

 **As usual, let me know your thoughts and comments on this chapter via Review. The next chapter will focus on some consequences of this attack on Kaze, as well as Yamato going through an unexpected encounter.**

 **Stay alert! :)**


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